Dealing With It
by Holiday From Real
Summary: Ronnie Curtis is now 15. Some things changed from when she was 7, others didn't. How many stories has it been? I still can't write summaries. Well, I can name chapters.
1. Our New Saturday Mornings

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Our New Saturday Mornings

Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders

Summary- Ronnie Curtis is now 15. Some things changed from when she was 7, others didn't. How many stories has it been? I still can't write summaries. Well, I can name chapters. ;-)

Note- I'm BACK! Did you guys miss me? (You better have) A lot of you wanted Ronnie and Nate around 14/15... I had this written for a while now, I was just computerless... and I don't know if that is a word.

"Get up," mom called yanking the sheet off of me. I groaned and grabbed it back from her, throwing it over my head. I turned onto my stomach, shielding my eyes from the bright sun.

"Ronnie, your cousin is going to be here soon. Don't forget, _you _have to baby-sit her." She _had _to remind me. I wanted to forget.

I'm 15 now; I still live with my mom, dad, Nate, and dog. I still do weird things, like counting and washing. I spend more time in the shower than ever. When I don't spend a long time in the shower I feel gross. I feel sticky and dirty. When I don't count I think something bad is going to happen. When things are uneven I get scared. Nobody moved into our extra room. I wouldn't let them, I had a fit. Many things were broken the day they suggested that.

Steve did marry Megan and now they have a seven year old daughter. Her name is Winifred, but everybody calls her Winnie. Not because that's how she was raised, like me, but because Winifred is so ugly. I wouldn't mind if I was called Veronica once in a while, but I can't stand to hear Winifred. She was named after Megan's mother, that's why it sounds so old. I like the name Winnie. I don't like her; she's a brat, a spoiled brat.

Normally, Nate would have helped me baby-sit her, but Nate was out somewhere. I hated the fact that he was away. I always got scared. I think he was helping dad at work. Nate still didn't talk too much. He spoke a little more to mom and dad than he used to, but only said single words in front of our uncles and aunt. He talks to me the most, as always.

"Veronica," came the whiny voice belonging to Winnie. She was here _already? _I groaned and pulled the sheet further over my head, exposing my feet. I heard her walk closer to the foot of my bed. She grabbed the bottom of the sheet and pulled as hard as she could. While she was pulling, I let go of the sheet quickly. I sent her flying into the wall.

Immediately she burst into tears. I sighed and crawled to the end of my bed. I bent my head down looking at her. She stopped crying and grabbed a fistful of my hair. I wished she wasn't such a pain. She smiled and laughed. I yanked my hair loose from her hand. I walked into the living room and turned the television on. I put on some re-runs (of your favorite and mine- Mickey Mouse) but she switched the channel. She didn't like him like I did.

I said good-bye to Aunt Megan and mom. Aunt Megan worked with mom on weekends and mom worked at some restaurant on the West-Side. She only worked there because it paid better money, and if she was decent enough, she got better tips. After they shut the door I went into the kitchen and made myself a bowl Frosted Flakes in chocolate milk.

Saturdays weren't like they used to be. Everybody used to come over and we'd spend the day hanging out. Now everybody was somewhere else. Nate helped dad at work occasionally, Steve worked with them, mom and Aunt Megan worked, Ponyboy moved (I'm not sure where- dad knows, but I really don't care), Two-Bit stops in once in a while (but he stays away most Saturdays. Let's just say, not everybody likes Winnie as much as her parents do) and Darry does whatever. We see everybody on major holidays, like Christmas and Thanksgiving. Which brings me to another thing, my uncles told me I was allowed to play football with them when I turned 12. I just don't want to, you get too dirty.

Winnie hopped off the couch and joined me in the kitchen. She sat across the table from me, staring at me with her hazel eyes. She kept tapping her fingers on the table. _Taptap, tap, taptap, tap, taptap, tap, taptap_, it was so _uneven_. The beat was driving me _insane_. I stared at her, trying to get her to stop.

"Stop," I said. She looked at me. Slowly she put her left finger to the table, _tap_, she raised it and put it down again, _tap_. She put her right finger down, _tap_, and brought it up. She put the left one down, tapping it twice. I dropped my spoon and walked over to her side of the table. I grabbed the sleeve of her dress (careful not to touch her) and dragged her into the living room.

"Watch some TV," I told her. She looked at me and stuck out her tongue.

"No," she said sternly. I wanted to hit her, but she would tell her parents and they would believe her and they would tell my parents. To make it simple, I'd be in trouble. She tugged at one of her brown curls. She may look innocent, but I knew she wasn't. The only people who seemed to believe me were Nate and Two-Bit. The only people she's ever acted like this to.

I was staring at her, and then she got off the couch and ran into my room. I chased her into my room where she found my Mickey collection. All of my Mickey and Minnie stuffed animals that Two-Bit got me.

"Not Mickey!"

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The next chapter isn't coming until you guys review... and as of August 29th, I have 10 of them written 


	2. Now They Know

Title- Dealing With It

Chapter Title- Now They Know

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

XAmberX- My brother goes to college next year… I don't know if I will miss him.

Punkforever- Ah, siblings… I can annoy the heck out of my sister just by putting on some Evanescence or Chevelle

Darkravenx0- Yeah, there is a chance for my best friend in the whole wide world… too bad it isn't you! Just kidding, no, these things are top secret and you have to wait like everybody else…

Note- Anybody catch the VMAs last night? GO GREEN DAY! SEVEN FREAKING VMAs! -Does a little dance- I think when I was in Florida Steve said he'd give me a Green Day poster… I hope he wasn't kidding… I want, no, _need _that Green Day Poster

She smirked, holding my Mickey. She was an evil 7 year old. I don't remember being that evil when I was 7. Maybe I did some lying, like when I got Chocolate, or maybe I was a little evil. I did cut the hair off of Steve's girlfriend once. I stared at her, waiting for her to do something. If I made a grab for the Mickey, she'd probably do something strange. Maybe she would've licked me, or bit me. She stared at me back, holding its ear.

"What're you gonna do?" I asked cautiously. I was afraid to find out. She brought the ear to her mouth and licked it. I let out a shriek and made a grab for it. I got it and grabbed the others as well. I carried them into the kitchen. I put them into a garbage bag, wiping a way a tear. I had these things forever. I left Nate's alone; he could do what he wanted with them. I tied the garbage bag up and put it into my closet.

"Why do ya make everythin' clean?" she asked me. "Nobody at my house cares. Mama and daddy don't care, they throw things 'round." I know they did, that's why I hated being over their house. They had cigarette butts on the coffee table and beer bottles on the counters.

"When things aren't clean, germs spread," I explained to her. She looked at me, confused.

"So?" she asked. She just didn't get it.

"You can die," I told her. She looked at me, worried at first, and then laughed.

"Mama and daddy haven't died yet, and they aren't clean. I never wash my hands as much as you do. Just after going to the bathroom and before eating." That scared me. I grabbed her sleeve again and dragged her to the bathroom. I turned the water on and shoved soap into her hands. She dropped the soap and turned towards me. "Your nuts," she told me. She ran out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. She picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Can I speak to Mrs. Randle?" she asked. "Mama, I'm scared, Veronica's scarin' me. She's makin' me wash my hands. She told me that germs could kill me. Mama, please come get me," she whined. I slapped myself in the forehead. Mom had thought I had gotten over this. Nobody knew I still did it. The only thing that they knew about and bugged them was me spending an hour in the shower.

"Is she comin'?" I asked her after she hung up. She grinned. Winnie and I never liked each other. Her grinning would only mean it was something bad.

"Uh-huh, _and _she's bringin' Auntie Jessica, _your _mom," she laughed. I closed my eyes. 'No, no, no, _no_,' I thought, 'this isn't fun!'

"Well, then sit down and behave," I told her.

"Okay and I'll let you wash your hands," she replied. She was right; I ran into the bathroom and scrubbed my hands. I kept going, even after I heard the door open, and footsteps down the hall. I had a mini scrub brush that I washed my hands with and sometimes I made them scratched up until they bled. This was one of those times. I wanted to stop, I really did. A few times I reached to shut off the water but I couldn't. I would feel _disgusting _if I didn't.

"Veronica Lynn," mom gasped. She turned the water off and grabbed my wrists. She was still in her uniform and suddenly I felt bad. I had pulled her away from work. I struggled to break free from her grip. Her filthy hands were touching me! I was unsuccessful; she pulled me into the living room. "Say you're sorry. God, Veronica, you're 15, I can't believe you would do something like this."

"Sorry," I mumbled and tried to pull away again.

"Ronnie, why do you do it? _Why_?" she asked me. I knew she cared, but her hands must've been _filthy_. I shrugged, I didn't want to.

"I don't _want _to, it just happens," I told her.

"Fine, _you'll _go to work with your father tomorrow, Nate can stay here and baby-sit Winnie."

"No, I _hate _gas stations. They're so filthy!" I yelled. She can't do that to me, she just can't! She stared at me.

"Well, Winifred and I have to go," Megan said. She gave me a look that made me feel bad. I think its weird how everybody else calls her Winnie but her mom insists on calling her Winifred. Aunt Megan and Winnie called everybody by their full names. I used to like Megan, but once Winnie was born she started to spoil her. I don't think she liked me much anymore.

Mom took me into the kitchen and sat me on a chair. She went into a cabinet and grabbed the stuff to clean out my cuts. I used that stuff a lot. She put some on my scrapes, probably expecting me to flinch. I had gotten used to the stinging.

"Ronnie," she began, looking at me, "why do you do it?" I shrugged. I stared back at her.

"I don't know Mom, I try to stop it, I just can't." It was the truth; I tried to avoid the sinks. When I did, my hands felt sticky and I feel strange. I feel sick, and I haven't been sick in a long time.

"Well, tomorrow you are going with your dad. Anything else bothering you?" she asked. I nodded. I explained to her about Winnie licking my Mickey and how they were in my closet because they were covered in germs. She took the disinfecting spray and sprayed them all down. I thanked her and went into the kitchen. We were out of cake. I decided to attempt to make it, after all, it can't be _that _hard, can it?

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_Reviews are loved… I have loyal fans… and still no cookies to give you guys though_


	3. The Problem With This

Title- Dealing With It

Chapter Title- The Problem With This

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Darkravenx0- I'm just gonna ignore you from now on…

Babygurl33- Here's an update

Iluvtxcowboiz- I know, she's a brat… very, very evil

Punkforever- I'm not going to even ask… Ranger Dan…

Note- Must I remind you about flashbacks again? S'pose I must, they are omnipresent... I am getting the Green Day poster! -Does a little dance- I made brownies today! I didn't burn the house down! -Dances again- and, they are the gooey kind!

It _was _hard. I couldn't do it. I got mad and threw the measuring cup at the wall. Then I got mad at myself and rushed to clean it all up. I kept cleaning the same spot even after it was clean. It looked too clean compared to the rest of the house and I cleaned it out.

Then, because my hands felt sticky, I went into the bathroom. In fact, my whole body felt sticky. I shut the door, took off my clothes and put the shower water as hot as it could go. I liked it when it was hot. I was boiling the germs and killing them. I scrubbed my body until it was sore and red. I stayed in the shower until the water turned icy cool. I was thinking about the problems this had caused. There were many.

_Flashback_

_Ronnie looked at the chocolate cake fin front of her. It had candles lit up on top of it. She silently counted them, 15. She was turning fifteen, and her mom didn't believe in that 'one for good luck' stuff. She gasped and pulled out the one candle. She didn't bother blowing it out. She just threw it away. The garbage caught fire and everybody screamed. Well, not everybody, just Megan and Winnie. The fire had been quickly extinguished, and Ronnie fled to the bathroom. She returned later with her hands scratched._

_"Why'd you throw it away?" Jessica asked._

_"It, it looked broken," Ronnie lied. The subject was dropped and Ronnie grabbed a piece of cake._

I heard the door open and I peeked through the shower curtain. I wanted to know who it was. Quickly, my hand shot out and grabbed the towel on the toilet bowl. I shut the water off and wrapped it around me.

"Dad," I shrieked, kind of scared. I could tell I was turning red. My ears were hot and so were my cheeks. He shut his eyes and walked out. I loved my dad, but I was frightened then. I knew he didn't see anything, but I felt weird. I walked into my room, and locked the door. I decided I should start locking doors. So nobody could walk in on me.

"Ronnie, baby, why is there no hot water left?" dad asked from outside my door. His voice was soft, he was always a good dad. I loved him more than mom, but not more than Nate. Nobody, I mean nobody, could take Nate's spot. I stood there for a few seconds, unsure what to say.

"Uh, uh, I don't know," I lied. I knew he could tell when I was lying.

"Are you sure?" he questioned. He knew I was lying, but I wasn't going to give in.

"Yeah," I told him quickly. He sighed and I heard him walk away. I finished getting dressed and went into the living room. I heard mom and dad talking in the kitchen.

"Soda, she was in there for _two hours_," mom told him. She sounded worried. "She told Winnie that germs would kill her and then tried to wash her hands. Ronnie washes her hands until they _bleed_."

"Jessi, I'm sure she'll get over it," dad said, reassuringly.

"I hope so," mom replied. I quickly sat down on the couch and turned on the television. Nothing good was on, there was no Mickey. I wondered what would happen at dad's work tomorrow, probably nothing good. It would be horrible, all of those germs and fumes. I could barely stand being near dad when he came home.

A few hours later, after dinner, the phone rang. I wasn't going to answer it so I let mom.

"Yeah, no, we are sorry about that, I have _no _idea what she was thinking, no, Nate is _not _crazy, just because he doesn't talk," she was talking to either Steve or Megan. She groaned. "Megan, I said we were sorry. It's not my fault; I don't _know _how long she's been doing it. What if I don't _want _her to see a psychiatrist? I don't _care _what _you _think, she's _my _daughter." I had been sitting on the couch and I heard her slam the phone down.

I walked out of the room. I was causing so many problems. It wasn't fair. Why did this happen to me? Nate was in our room, sitting at our desk. He was probably doing some homework. I wiped away a tear.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly. He pointed to my cheek. I sniffled and sighed.

"I, I gotta go with dad 'morrow 'cause I, I tried to wash Winnie's hands and Aunt Megan's mad at mom," I managed to say before I broke down crying. I heard him groan.

"That means _I _have to watch the brat tomorrow?" he asked. I tried to smile. I nodded.

"Yeah, you get to have fun. Keep her outta here." He nodded and gave me a hug. I slid under my covers and fell asleep.

I woke up to dad shaking me and telling me we had to go. I slapped him away and turned over. I wasn't going to go. He finally got me up and told me I didn't have to go. He had already asked my friend's mom if I could spend the day there. I was fine with that; dad knew I hated to go to the gas station.

I walked to her house, considering it was in the opposite direction of the gas station. I knocked on her door and her mom let me in. She was still asleep, which was normal. I stood in the middle of their living room. Let's just say it didn't look to clean.

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Please review, and if my family doesn't eat all the brownies, you might get one! 


	4. We're off to see the Shrink

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- We're off to see the Shrink

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Darkravenx0- And you just blew your chances of getting a brownie by telling me I suck… You never, ever will see the end of that conversation… I never wrote it… so HA!

Note- What happened to my fans? Oh, yeah, I know. School… which reminds me… I just got my schedule today! I have lunch with my BROTHER. My mom is being a bitch about my summer assignment; I don't know how fast updates will come. I'll try once daily, but I normally like two reviews before I put it up. This time around I only got one.

Dad picked me up before he went home, he didn't tell mom at all. Nobody would find out. It would be our little secret. Except, of course, Uncle Steve knew. Dad drove me home and let me go to the shower first, so mom couldn't tell if I had been there or not. I spent a long time in there, with the door locked. I heard somebody banging against the door.

"Ronnie, there better be hot water left," mom shouted. I looked at the dial. It was as hot as it could get, but the water was freezing. I groaned, I knew I would be in trouble. I ran out of the shower, quickly unlocked the door and ran back in. I heard mom turn the knob and walk in. She felt the water temperature. "Ron, this is freezing. How do you manage to take a shower in _this_?" she asked me.

"I don't," I grabbed my towel and stepped out. I showed her where the dial was, the hottest it could be.

"Ronnie, we really do need to take you to a psychiatrist." Then she walked off. I heard her pick up the phone and call somebody. She got the name and address to a 'good' psychiatrist. I would end up missing school, and I tried to talk her into letting Nate miss school. She wouldn't hear it.

I woke up late the next morning, mom figured she'd let me sleep. I know she didn't want me in a bad mood for the shrink. I wasn't going to be. I really hated to do these things. I hated the burning sensation on my back and then the sudden change to cold. I hated scrubbing my hands until they bled and I hated counting everything. I hated it, I _hated _it.

The shrink wasn't far away. It was some old guy, he was balding and fat. I mean _huge_, I don't know how he fit in the room. They must've pulled off the roof and used a crane to drop him in. There would be no other way for him to get in. He had huge glasses and kept looking at his paper while asking me these stupid questions. He didn't help; he just gave us another number.

Mom called that number from the pay phone and set up an appointment for that day. I think I went to 3 others that day. Nobody helped, they did nothing. They just said they had no idea. Couldn't they tell I was crazy? I could tell mom was getting pissed. When we got home she looked through her stuff trying to find something. She pulled out a cardboard box and looked through a bunch of papers. She finally found something and dialed it. I didn't bother to eaves drop; I had the rest of the day off.

"Ronnie, go pack a suitcase," mom told me. I was really confused. I did what I was told. She wrote a note and put it on the table. "Get in the car, we need to go." I didn't argue. I put my suitcase in the backseat and sat in the passenger side waiting for mom. She came out, did the same with her suitcase and drove to the West-Side. She parked the car, went into the restaurant she worked at and then came back out.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked.

"I know a good therapist," she answered and we drove out of the state.

Mom seemed to know which motels and food places sucked, which ones were decent, and which ones were good. She called home to let dad know we were okay. I took the phone away from her and demanded to talk to Nate.

"Nate, I'm so scared. I don't know what's going on. I don't know where we are going," I told him. I was trying not to cry. "It's so, so dirty here. The shower is the worst. It's got all sorts of mold," I whined. This was freaking me out. I was going to spend the night in the car if mom let me.

"I know where you're goin'," he replied.

"Where, you gotta tell me where!" I shrieked on the phone.

"There's some therapist in New York." New York, what was mom thinking? I dropped the phone.

"Sorry, I gotta go, um, g'night," I mumbled. I turned to mom. She was looking at me.

"Ronnie, baby, I'm sorry I just want you to get better," she told me. She tried to hug me but I pulled away.

"I'm gonna go sleep in the car," I told her and quickly grabbed the keys.

I didn't sleep well, but I slept better than I would have. The car was just a little bit cleaner than the motel. In the morning mom tapped on the window. I was half asleep when I let her in, it could've been anybody. She handed me a bagel and chocolate milk. I would take the chocolate milk, it was sealed, but somebody touched that bagel. What if they didn't wash their hands?

"So, mom, how do you know this therapist?" I asked her.

"When I was 17, just before I moved in with my dad, I got this problem. I went to live with my dad while I had this problem, and I came back to New York and my ex-best friend's mom got me this excellent therapist."

"Did you have the same problem I do?" I asked her. She shouldn't have gotten mad at me if she had this too.

"No, I had something very different. I had kleptomania," she explained. She had kleptomania? And she got mad at me for drawing on walls? There was something a little messed up with that. I just nodded. The ride was quiet, mom stopped by a fast food place for dinner, but I told her no. People touching my food grossed me out.

"Do ya wanna stop at a store and buy somethin' sealed?" she asked me, annoyed. I nodded and grinned. She understood, sometimes.

We didn't stop at a motel that night. Mom pulled into a rest stop, locked the doors and said we could sleep there. I felt disgusting, I hadn't showered in _ages_.

"When you were a baby, I took you and Nate to New York. I did the same thing. I slept in the car at rest stops."

"Where was dad?" I never knew much about when I was a baby.

"It doesn't matter," she told me. I was going to find out. She was dumb if she thought I wasn't going to.

_Please, please review. I'd like to know how I am doing… after this chapter and the next there is a lot of drama. As of 8/31/05, I have 12 chapters done._


	5. OCD

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- OCD

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

XAmberX- School… it is a very evil thing. I'm sitting here organizing Post-Its for my summer assignment as I'm typing these… 100 Post-Its! They're trying to kill me!

Darkravenx0- Thanks for the advice. I'm done with my summer assignment for English. I'm organizing the notes now. I can't believe you're moving. It sucks!

Gia- Why do you have to be that mean to me? I'm a person, I have feelings. I don't see you writing. I get good reviews; it's what keeps me motivated. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. I didn't like that fact that you put in my friend's penname and reviewed a chapter. That wasn't cool. I can tell the difference between her and you. She IMs me when she reviews. That's how I knew. I don't care what you say to me, I'll keep writing. Please, just back off and try to be nicer (if you plan on reviewing again). I think I handled my temper very well.

Note- Resources: Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser. It was a very good book and the later half of it has a lot of information on OCD. I know this chapter is a lot of talking, but it was the easiest way for me to get in the information about OCD. Everybody- I think I need a party! I finished my summer assignment! Now all I have left is Social Studies. That'll be a breeze. All I have to do is read a biography about the starter of religion.

"You aren't gonna tell me?" I asked looking at her. She shook her head. "I'm gonna find out, and you know it," I informed her.

"Not if I have anything to do with it," she said. I laughed and closed my eyes. I felt gross, but I also felt good. I didn't have to wash anything, it felt so relieving.

We arrived in New York the next day. Mom drank a lot of coffee to stay awake. She got us this really classy hotel. A hotel that was clean enough to meet my standards. As soon as we got in, she checked the time. She put the suitcases on the bed and then dragged me out.

The therapist spoke to mom, asked her how she was doing, and other stuff like that. Then she introduced me. She seemed nice. She was older, but then again she saw my mom around 16 years ago. We talked with mom and then mom left the room so we could talk privately.

"Why exactly are you here?"

"I do these weird things. I'm obsessed with being clean and cleaning and every thing needs to be even."

"Do you like it?"

"Hell no, I hate it! I don't want to!"

"When did you start?"

"When I was 7. Right after my mom lost my baby brother. It was all my fault too," I said breaking up. Tears poured out from my eyes. The lady did something weird. She came over and hugged me. She didn't call mom in, she just hugged me. I hated to be touched, everybody knew that. I pulled away and stared at her.

"Mom lost the baby and I wanted things to be perfect, so I made things even. Everything had to be even. A few months later my aunt Megan told me 'bout germs and that's when things had to be clean. I just kept cleaning, I wash 'til my hands become red and sore and the water has to be boiling hot and by the time I get out of the shower, its freezing cold."

"Okay, well, I'm going to get your mother so we can discuss things." She brought my mother in.

"Is everything alright?" my mom asked, staring at the therapist.

"Well, I think I know why your daughter does these things," she said looking at her papers occasionally. "She suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD. We aren't sure if it's genetic, caused by chemicals in the brain, stress or trauma. It's been around since man first roamed the Earth, but it's all new to researchers." I do it because I was traumatized; I felt I was the cause of Jonathan's death.

"So, everybody that has it does what I do?" I asked her.

"Oh, no, there are many, many different types of OCD. There are people who fear germs or dirt, like Ronnie, people who doubt everything, people who fear harm of themselves and other people, and people who need things perfect, people who need things symmetrical."

"Is it odd to have more than one?" I asked her. I had the fear of germs, the fear of hurting others, and I needed things perfect.

"Of course not, tell me, which ones you think you have?" she was so nice. Her voice was soft and her room was comfortable. Back home, the rooms where ugly with cheap, plastic chairs. I was sitting on a loveseat next to mom. Mom had tried to put her arm around me, I simply slapped it away. The therapist sat across from us, in an arm chair. In one corner was a desk that was neat and clean.

"I need everything clean, so the fear of germs, I'm 'fraid of hurtin' others after what happened with Jonathan, and I need things perfect, 'cause nobody gets hurt when things are perfect." She nodded. "Can I get better?" I asked her. She smiled.

"Yes, your mom said you weren't spending much time here, you were going home shortly. I think, you can start your treatment on the way home. It's called Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP. Basically, what you do is you are exposed to the things you try to stop for about an hour three days a week. I was thinking on your way home we could start by introducing you to germs. Jessica, this means you need to stop at those disgusting motels for at least an hour. No matter how much she cries or anything, you need to keep her there. She will say she hates you for making her do it, but believe me, she doesn't. Here is my address. The top one is my home and the bottom is the office, same with the phone numbers. I looked up a good therapist back home for you." She gave mom two cards and she wanted us to write and call her. She would pay for long distance charges.

I wished I could take her back home. She was really nice and seemed to know what she was talking about. We called dad that night and told him. I was so excited I found out what was wrong. I wanted to scream it. Mom let me take one, nice, long, and hot then cold shower before we left. I nervously sat in the car; the therapist said this would be hard. I believed everything she said, it must've been the way she said it. Mom locked all of my other clothes in the trunk and told me we would stop at fast food places to eat.

"But she said one step at a time," I argued.

"I just wanna see you better. How 'bout it's a big step? Or, she said we'd work on the germ thing on the way home, your others we'll do with the therapist," she told me handing me the card. I looked at the name and number.

"We were here already; this is the fat balding guy." She took the card out of my hand.

"I don't think so..."

We drove until dark and pulled up to the motel. I was in for one hell of a night.

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_Reviewers get... nothing. Sorry, I am unfortunately poor and school is starting. I have to hope my mommy is a nice person and lets me get the shoes I want._


	6. On The Way Home

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- On the Way Home

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Darkravenx0- See, Chel, now you know something! Wow! I am so surprised with you! Two updates in one day? I'm liking!

XAmberX- Still… you haven't lost yet. I'm tired… OH! Green Day just came on! -Sings along-

Note- Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's short. Don't kill me... it's early and my ideas only go so far.

I was hesitant to go in. I took my time opening the car door and asked mom to open the room's door. She said no, and handed me the key. I played with it for a while, turning it over and over. Slowly I put it in the hole and turned. I told my mom I was _not _going to touch the doorknob. It was probably infested with germs. Mom didn't answer me. She was leaning against the car and looked like we had all the time in the world.

I think it took me about an hour, but finally I opened the door. My mom was standing next to me as soon as I turned the doorknob. She rushed into the filthy motel room and went into the bathroom. I knew she went to go shut off the water. I stood, in the doorway, paralyzed. It was disgusting.

I hated the feeling of thousands of germs, germs of people I didn't know, all over my hands. It felt like it was crawling up into my body. I shook a little, trying to shake out the thoughts. I couldn't take it. I ran into the bathroom and tried to turn on the water. I had forgotten mom shut it off. I ran into the room and started to cry. I needed to wash my hands; the germs were going to kill me.

Mom watched me, staying out of the way. She was leaning against the door so I couldn't leave. Occasionally she glanced at her watch. I knew she was keep track of time. The therapist had said an hour and if I spent more than an hour here, I would hurt somebody.

I must've cried myself to sleep, because mom was shaking me awake. I was on the floor and she was helping me up and into the car. I wondered how long it had been. Then I remembered all the germs. Thinking about it made me get sick. Mom took me to a McDonald's and I refused to eat. She gave up on that and we went to a store where she bought me chocolate milk and a mini box of Frosted Flakes.

I thanked her and she just shrugged. She reminded me that I was only hurting myself. She drove until dark and stopped at another motel. I refused to get out of the car. I didn't want a replay of the other night. She opened the door and practically dragged me out. I bit her a few times and then started to cry.

"I hate you I don't wanna do this! Just lemme sleep in the car!" She picked me up and opened the motel door. She put me on the bed and locked the door. She shut off the water.

"You have to spend an hour here. And you _are _going to spend an hour here," she replied. She was talking to me softly.

I spent the hour sitting on the bed, shaking. She let me take a shower when I was done. It didn't really help. So many people had taken a shower in it and the mold was horrible. We got back onto the road. I begged mom to get some clothes out of the trunk for me, but she shook her head.

"The therapist said nothing about clothes," I whined. She sighed, knowing I was right. She got me a new pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. I changed and she started to drive again. I couldn't wait until we were home. My own bed was clean and mom couldn't keep the water off forever. Especially when she wasn't there.

The next night was horrible. The motel was the worst. The smell was unbearable and the mold and germs were multiplying by the second. I stood in the middle of the room not touching anything. I wanted to get better, to not live in fear of germs, but this was extreme. The hour seemed to drag on forever.

Finally, mom opened the door. I made a mad dash to the car and sat there. I leaned my head against the window and fell into a light sleep.

The light stung my eyes as the sun rose. We were driving, I could tell. I recognized the streets. We were close to home. I started to get excited. I could take a nice shower. I could take a nice, long shower, just the way I like them. There would be no mold and no germs. I knew everybody that took a shower in our shower; there was nothing to worry about. It seemed to take forever, but we finally pulled up to the house. I was finally free...

* * *

_Reviewers... review again! I love that Review Alert in my e-mail box! Plus, I answer yur reviews! Yippee! Isn't that cool? Now you can ask me any question you want! I will answer, whether it be sarcastic or not, it depends! I'm hyper... Green Day is on, why shouldn't I be hyper?_


	7. The Trouble With Aunts

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- The Trouble with Aunts

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Darkravenx0- I am finished, and my friends and I believe I am slightly schizophrenic! See, I answered your questions. I miss you!

XAmberX- Green Day is awesome, and it's cool that you're un-defeated! Did your sister like die or something? Where'd she go?

Note- I completely finished my summer assignment…

I bet you can't guess what I did as soon as I got in. Okay, maybe you can. I ran into the bathroom. I didn't care if anybody was in there, I hoped not. Nobody was in the bathroom and I grabbed a towel. The bottom of the shower was dry which meant the last shower wasn't recent. I hoped there was enough hot water left.

I stepped into the shower and let it boil the germs off of my back. The water in the motel hadn't been this hot. I closed my eyes and tried to tough it out. Finally, the water started to turn cold and I was relieved. I got out of the shower and walked into my room.

"Oh, you're back," Winnie said wrinkling her nose. If she wasn't so filthy, I would've picked her up and thrown her out the window. "You're the reason we had to come to this hell hole."

"What did you just say?" I asked her. She was seven, she shouldn't say those things! I knew I didn't.

"Mama said this place was a hell hole and that some people that lived here were dipshits." I tried not to laugh. It sounded awfully funny coming from the seven year old.

"Who is a dipshit?" I asked, careful not to laugh.

"She said your mom had about the sense of a donkey, the only thing your dad had going for him was his good looks, your brother never spoke and he was stupid and you were crazy." Gee, if Aunt Megan didn't like us, why'd she bother coming over? Oh, yeah, that's right, Uncle Steve probably made her.

I stared at Winnie for a bit, debating what to do. Finally I ran into the living room and launched myself at Aunt Megan. She had been standing behind the couch. She pushed me off of her but I just ran back, jumped up, wrapped my arm around her neck (to hold on) and punched her. I couldn't believe I was touching her.

"Never, ever talk shit about my family. It's your family too! My mom happens to be very smart, she took me to New York to get help, you're just jealous 'cause my dad is better lookin' than you, Nate doesn't have to speak and who cares if I'm crazy?" I screamed.

I knew everybody was staring and Megan was shouting at me. She seemed so nice when Uncle Steve was dating her, as soon as Winnie came along; she was the aunt from hell. Finally, mom grabbed my arms and tried to pull me off of her. I let go of Megan and let mom drag me into my room. She didn't say anything, but went back into the living room. I watched from the window as Winnie, Megan, and Steve headed to the car. Steve was ahead of Winnie and Megan. Megan was carrying Winnie like she was three.

"Ronnie, sweetie," mom said. She knocked on the door lightly and opened it. "What's wrong baby? Why did you jump Megan like that?"

"Winnie," I muttered, "she said some things that she claimed Megan said."

"Like what?" she asked, pressing further into the subject.

"She said you didn't have any sense, the only thing daddy had was good looks, Nate was dumb and I was crazy," I answered. I sounded a little like a six year old, but I didn't care. I was fifteen and I could act like a six year old if I wanted. I had a grin for that.

Mom gave me a hug and left the room. I heard her say something like 'if you're gonna smoke, do it outside.' But, nobody here smoked. At least, not anybody I knew of. I peeked out my window, my behavior was getting less and less like a fifteen year olds. I saw Uncle Steve's car in our driveway and he was smoking outside. He was the only one there. I opened my window so I could hear.

"Look, Steve, I'm sorry about Ronnie before," my mom began to say.

"It's not a big deal," he told her. I saw them sit down on the porch steps. "I was thinking about breaking up with Megan, and then she told me she was pregnant. I tried to do the right thing, I married her. She's a bitch and that's all it is. She was so fake before Winnie. She lied and everybody liked her, now I hate her and I can't do anything about it because of Winnie."

"Have you ever tried to talk to her about it?" mom asked.

"Yeah, but if I have to hear another Steven I'm gonna kill somebody. It's worse than when the ol' man said it. She insists on callin' everybody by there full first name. Winifred, I hate it," he muttered.

"Well, does she know you hate it?"

"No, I don't talk to her much. Just when I ask her if we can come over here and when we are here. I didn't want people to know about our problems. When she's in a good mood, I can tell. She's bearable and she always heads to the bedroom early 'to slip into something more comfortable'. I can't say no, she'd make a scene about it and everything I tried to hide from Winnie will be in the open."

"Maybe you shouldn't hide things from Winnie. It's only gonna hurt more if she finds out."

"Yeah, well, I think I'm gonna spend the night here, 'kay?" he asked and looked at mom. She nodded. "Where's Ronnie? I wanna talk to her." Mom pointed into the house and I sat on my bed catching up on the homework Nate had brought home for me. He knocked on the door.

"C'min," I said, not looking up. I felt him sit on the edge of my bed.

"What happened earlier?" he asked. I didn't look at him.

"Your wife," I spat at him. I kept writing and reading.

"I don't like her anymore than you do," he responded.

"Look, you can't understand how I feel, so don't try! It wasn't your mom she said had the common sense of donkey. It wasn't your dad that she said only had his good looks going for him. It wasn't your brother that she called stupid and it wasn't you that she called crazy! And get the hell off of my bed because you are making the sheets dirty!" I yelled at him. I threw my books off of the bed and started to pull the sheets off to wash them.

"C'mon Ronnie," he said grabbing my wrist.

"Get off of me! You are filthy! And you aren't the one that needs to apologize!" I shouted at him. I threw the sheets in the washing machine and turned it on. "I'm going for a walk!" I yelled to nobody in particular and opened the door. I slammed it shut behind me and started to walk down the road.

_I need reviews! I love them so much! I know people are reading this and it is pissing me off that you aren't reviewing. I really want to know how to make this better and other things like that! Plus, I always could use a few friends aside from the ones it my mind. AOL Instant Messenger: gcbabe1891 or xshellzx1891x… my Yahoo! Instant Messenger is in my profile under OTHER THINGS since I can't have underscore-thingies here._


	8. Walked Out

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Walked Out

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

XAmberX- I always wanted to know a dead person…

Punkforever- Why can't you be dead? I always wanted to know a dead person! I have to go run in the corner and cry now.

Darkravenx0- Yeah, innocence is awesome… those were the days. I miss you bud.

Note- I am bored so I am updating because updating rocks. It makes people smile! What could be better than making people smile? Well, I guess a cookie and a few friends… I am bored and Green Day isn't on, and neither is GC or Chevelle or any good bands for that matter. I wish I had the MCR c.d.s

I could feel the tears running down my cheeks, and I quickly brushed them away. I hated being mad at my family. They were the only thing I had. I looked down at my feet while I walked. I didn't know where I was headed. I'd go wherever my feet took me. I started to walk faster, kicking myself for not using the bathroom before I left. I tried to think about who had clean bathrooms. My friend did, but I didn't want to bother her, I knew Steve didn't, Uncle Darry might. I guess I'd go there. I had clean bathrooms, but I wasn't going home just yet.

I opened the door to Uncle Darry's house and headed for the bathroom. It's times like these that I love the fact we keep doors unlocked. I looked at the bathroom, it was fairly clean. I flushed the toilet and started to wash my hands. I washed them for a long time and then walked out of the house. I figured Uncle Darry was still at work.

I decided to walk back home, the long way which would take me past Uncle Steve's house. I saw Steve's car in the driveway. Why was he here? Didn't he know it was only asking for trouble?

"Steven Randle get the fuck outta my house!" Megan screamed at him. I heard a noise like a bottle breaking. I went into the backyard and knocked on Winnie's window.

"Win, please, let me in, I'll help you," I told her. I didn't want to help her. I wanted to beat the shit out of Megan. Megan and Winnie were like the devil and the devil's spawn. Pure evil and I hated them.

"It's not your house Megan! I grew up in this house! I pay the bills 'round here! You just wait some damn tables on the week ends!" Steve answered. Winnie looked at me. She must've been terrified. I could tell by the wide eyes and tear stains. She opened the window and I crawled in. I walked out of the bedroom with a little less courage than when I first walked by the house.

"That's my uncle you are talking to like that! Don't you guys understand? You have a kid in tears in the bedroom!" I shouted pointing at the bedroom.

"I don't think I need to listen to a crazy girl," Megan said coolly, turning to me. "You know what, Steven? You can keep your house and your kid!" she shouted at him. "And you, don't you dare try to tell me what to understand. I think you should worry about your own problems, like your idiotic father, your senseless mother, your quiet brother and whatever the fuck is wrong with you!" She slapped me across the face and laughed. This wasn't the Megan my uncle dated. My uncle would _never _marry somebody this mean. I knew he cared a lot about his family. After all, I was his half-sister's and his best friend's daughter. She walked out of the house and slammed the door.

"I'll be back," I told Uncle Steve. I made my way towards the door.

"Uh-uh," Uncle Steve said and grabbed my shoulder.

"What did I say about touching me?" I nearly shouted. He took his hand off and looked at me.

"I guess I won't be spending the night at your house. I'll give you a ride," he told me. He walked into Winnie's room. I waited in the car for them. He came out, holding her hand and talking to her.

The car ride home was quiet. I spent the 2 minutes looking at my fingernails. I opened our front door carefully. Nate was staring absently at the television. He turned his head when the door opened and looked at me. Mom came into the living room, smiled at me and then looked at Steve when she saw Winnie.

"Megan walked out. I'm not gonna spend the night, I need to be with Winnie," he told her. She just nodded.

"Anytime you need help, please call or come over. I've raised two myself," she said. Steve tried to smile, but it must be kind of hard. He was just left all alone with a little, bratty girl.

"Jess, it's gonna be so hard. I don't know anything about girls," he told my mom.

"Are you sure about that?" she laughed. "The hard stuff's done already. She talks, walks, and she is potty trained. At least you love her and helped raise her. It's more than we can say about our dad." Mom got Steve to smile that time.

"I'd never want to turn into him. Bye." I watched them walk back into the car. I knew there was going to be a lot of challenges for Steve.

"Ronnie," Nate said, tugging at my sleeve. I looked at him.

"Yeah?" He pointed to Chocolate who was now peeing on the floor. "Didn't anybody think to let him out?" I asked.

"Don't look at me. Remember our deal? You get to keep him and you get to take care of him." I waited until my mom turned away before I stuck my tongue out at her. At least this was an excuse to wash the floors.

_I really need friends. I need to find somebody in my Chemistry class, I only know one person and she only knows one person: me… It'd be funny if we both had a non-existent Chem. Class. We'd have two periods to walk around and do nothing! Look, I have a preview from the next chapter:_

"Ronnie, earth to Ronnie... VERONICA!" I turned around. I must've been really deep in thought. Nate and one of his friends were staring at me. I blushed and waved 'hi'.

"Sorry, I was, um, thinking about what we did in math today," I lied.

"Ron, we didn't _have _math yet today," Nate told me. I turned a darker shade of red.

"You _know _what I was thinking about," I said sharply.

"Oh," he responded. His friend looked at us, confused.

"Family stuff," I quickly explained. He nodded, still confused. I smiled and looked at him.

_Doesn't it sound awesome? Who is this guy? And what's going to happen? Is everything going to be okay? And, HEY! Where did Two-Bit go? And, the faster review the faster you get to read it all and find out!_


	9. Out of Control Tempers

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Out of Control Tempers

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders... after all these stories...

Reviewers-

HAHAHHA- I'm sorry about the wait. Hope you enjoy

XAmberX- Oh, yeah, your brother went to college?

RangerDan- Oh no, my brownies!

Note- I start school tomorrow… I'm going to go cry. Sorry about the wait, I had to go shopping and we've been at parties this week end. Sucks, doesn't it?

"She just walked out on him?" Dad asked mom in disbelief. Mom nodded. I stared at the table and Nate's fingers as he drummed them on the table.

I hated this subject. I was there, it was my fault. No, it wasn't. It was bound to happen anyway. Why couldn't she have just taken the demon with her? Uncle Steve had _no _idea how to take care of a little girl. The few hours I used to spend with him were boring, and I was different from Winnie.

Aunt Megan had made Winnie the girliest girl possible. Her hair was always down and she always wore dresses and shoes. I never saw her in pants or sneakers. I used to be able to handle the talks about cars and other guy stuff, Winnie won't be able too. Uncle Steve won't be able to talk to her. She's going to want to play Barbie's and he's not going to.

_Oh no_!

I would have to become busy, always. I needed plans. I was not going to play Barbie's with the baby from hell, I never liked Barbie anyway. I used to pull her head off. I'm sure Winnie wanted Barbie's _with _heads.

I had school the next day. Good ol' school, it kept me away from Winnie. I was in high school, and she was still in elementary school. I had finished all the assigned work, which, there was a lot of. I was still stuck on this whole Aunt Megan, Uncle Steve, Winnie thing. I spent most of my time thinking about it.

"Ronnie, earth to Ronnie... VERONICA!" I turned around. I must've been really deep in thought. Nate and one of his friends were staring at me. I blushed and waved 'hi'.

"Sorry, I was, um, thinking about what we did in math today," I lied.

"Ron, we didn't _have _math yet today," Nate told me. I turned a darker shade of red.

"You _know _what I was thinking about," I said sharply.

"Oh," he responded. His friend looked at us, confused.

"Family stuff," I quickly explained. He nodded, still confused. I smiled and looked at him.

It was Josh, Nate's friend from the West-side, the richer side of town. Nobody cared that he hung around us. I never cared; he was just Nate's friend. Nate never spoke to him as much as he did to me. Although, that was normal. Josh was a little taller than me, maybe around 5'7", he had blonde hair and brown eyes. His dad was about Uncle Darry's age and his mom was a little younger. I had only been to that house once. It was nice and clean. They had somebody that could clean it. They could afford that crap.

"Do you guys wanna hang after school?" he asked. I suddenly got nervous.

"Can't, um, family stuff," I said and grabbed Nate's hand. I dragged him into our next class, without Josh.

"Oh, c'mon Ron, why'd you do that?" Nate whined. I shrugged. I don't know why I did it. Maybe it was because I finally realized how good Josh looked. He was tall, with blonde hair and brown eyes and a nice body. He was a halfback on the football team. "Oh," Nate gasped and stared at me. "Ronnie likes Josh," he sang softly and laughed.

My hand met the side of his face. That was the first time I ever hit him. He stared at me, and I stared at him. I turned to the front of the room and didn't look at him for the rest of the period. Did I like Josh? No, I couldn't like Josh. He was my brother's friend, one of Nate's, like, three friends. All Nate's other friends were mine, and mostly girls. He would never like one of my friends.

"Nate, I'm sorry," I told him after class. We had lunch next. He didn't say anything. He picked up speed and walked to the cafeteria. That left me at my locker, trying not to cry.

"You okay?" Josh asked. He was leaning next to my locker. He was looking at me, even though I couldn't see him. I had my head in my locker so you couldn't tell I had been crying. "Where's your partner in crime?" he asked. He was referring to Nate.

"How should I know?" I snapped back. I pulled my head out of my locker and grabbed a tissue from the box I had in there.

"Well, you two never leave each other's side. Well, except when you use the bathroom or change for gym, but that is understandable." I looked at him and laughed a little.

"We had a little fight," I said softly.

"Was it a 'family problem'?" he asked, teasing me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my lunch. I shut my locker and walked off. "No, seriously, what happened?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said stiffly. I started to walk quicker, I hated the feeling I got when I was alone with him.

"Ronnie," he said, and in about two steps, caught up with me. He put his arm around my shoulder and I shrugged it off. "You've never been this quiet. It wasn't a little fight, was it?"

"I hit him," I said and looked at him. "I said I would always protect him and I hit him. I'm such a liar," I groaned. I sat in the middle of the hallway. I opened my lunch bag and started to eat at the ham and cheese sandwich mom made. He sat down next to me and reached into my paper bag. He pulled out a bag of cookies.

"Thanks," he said and started to eat them. "So, why'd you hit him?"

"He was teasing me about y- something." I quickly covered my mistake. Josh wasn't the best person to be talking to about this.

"About y- something?" he questioned. I looked at him and groaned. "Am I going to find out about this y-something?" I gave him the rest of my lunch and picked up my stuff. I walked into one of the only places he couldn't follow me: the girl's bathroom.

_Here's next chapter's clip! Review and you find out more!_

"I just wanted to say thanks," I told Nate. He just kept walking. "You can't stay mad at me forever, I share a bedroom with you."

"Maybe I'll move into the spare room," he answered. He didn't look directly at me.

"You wouldn't," I whispered.

"I would," he replied. I could see him smirk.

"I already said I was sorry, what more do you want?" I asked him. He shrugged and picked up his pace. Josh looked at me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, ya know what? I'm gonna head home and not go to school." He nodded and I walked home. I checked Chocolate's water bowl. I went to the couch and laid down. Nobody would be home for a while, nobody would know I was home. Well, nobody would know except Nate.

I just had to hope that Nate wouldn't rat me out. I wouldn't hear the end of it from mom.

_Yeah, so, review and you will get this. 3 reviews before I put up a chapter!_


	10. Flipped Out

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Flipped Out

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

RangerDan- I made flat cookies the other night, but they're all mine! -Eats cookies-

XAmberX- Well, it's great that you're undefeated.

Note- Sorry about the wait… I've been busy with school and soccer just started.

Nate and I didn't walk home together. He beat me home. When I got home he was already in our room, with the door locked. I knocked on it, gently.

"Who is it?" he mumbled.

"Me," I called back. There was no response, the door didn't unlock. He was really, really pissed at me. I did my homework at the kitchen table, waiting for Nate to come out. He didn't come out, not even when mom called him for dinner. Nate never missed a meal.

"What's wrong with Nate?" mom asked me.

"I need to go for a walk," I said quickly. I pushed my plate away and grabbed my sneakers.

I needed to talk to somebody. I needed to talk to Josh. I ran to his house and impatiently knocked on the door. His dad answered the door and called for him. I grabbed Josh's sleeve and walked over to the West-side Park. It was a lot better than the East-side Park.

"Nate's still not talking to me," I told him. I could feel tears pouring out of my eyes.

"He told me what happened," he said. I felt dizzy. Nate told Josh what happened? I coughed a little and started to run. "Ronnie, Ron, c'mon, you can't run away from me. I'm faster than you."

I didn't care. I kept running. I ran all the way home and knocked on our door until Nate opened it.

"You told him?" I screamed. He backed into the wall. "How could you do that to me?" I could see that Nate was scared. I never yelled at him before. I never yelled at anybody this loud before.

"Veronica, you have a guest and you are yelling at your brother like this?" my mother snapped. Oh, Josh must've really followed me back. I stepped away from Nate and turned to face my mom and Josh. I blushed and laughed nervously.

"I, uh, I need to take a shower," I said and ran into the bathroom. The shower could get me two hours away from them. I turned the water on and sat down in the tub. I didn't bother to lock the door; I didn't care if they thought I was crazy. I was crazy.

Sometime later I felt somebody shut the water off. I must've fallen asleep, or dozed off. It was mom, I could tell. She shook me awake and helped me into an oversized tee-shirt. She led me into my bedroom. Nate was already asleep.

Breakfast was quiet the next day. Nate wasn't talking to me and mom was doing some laundry. I rushed out of the house, so I wouldn't have to walk with Nate. Josh was standing at the end of our block. I didn't look at him.

"Ronnie, I didn't mean to start anything between you and your brother. I begged him to tell me. I needed to know. Ronnie, just say something," he pleaded.

"So, now you know, are you happy?" I asked him. I stared straight ahead.

"Well, not as happy as I can be. Ronnie, I really like you. I always thought you thought of me as Nate's friend."

"I used to," I replied.

"Ronnie, you wanna go out with me sometime?" I turned to face him. I dropped my book. I reached over to pick it up, but he beat me to it.

"So?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'd like that," I told him and grinned.

"You have a really cute grin," he told me and tried to put his arm around my shoulder.

"Please don't touch me," I said and moved away from his arm. He gave me this look and shrugged. I was really happy and I owed it all to Nate. I turned around and ran to him. "I'm so, so sorry about yesterday. I was in a bad mood."

Nate didn't say anything. He didn't acknowledge me. Josh waited for us to catch up with him.

"I just wanted to say thanks," I told Nate. He just kept walking. "You can't stay mad at me forever; I share a bedroom with you."

"Maybe I'll move into the spare room," he answered. He didn't look directly at me.

"You wouldn't," I whispered.

"I would," he replied. I could see him smirk.

"I already said I was sorry, what more do you want?" I asked him. He shrugged and picked up his pace. Josh looked at me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, ya know what? I'm gonna head home and not go to school." He nodded and I walked home. I checked Chocolate's water bowl. I went to the couch and laid down. Nobody would be home for a while; nobody would know I was home. Well, nobody would know except Nate.

I just had to hope that Nate wouldn't rat me out. I wouldn't hear the end of it from mom.

* * *

_I have the next clip for you!

* * *

"I brought your homework home. Aren't I a nice brother?" I gave him a smile and then a look._

"Can I come in now?" Josh called from outside. Nate opened the door.

"I invited your boyfriend over to do homework. If you don't mind." I shrugged. It's not like I'd do anything. He played football, germs crawled all over him. We went into our room

"Anybody home!" somebody called. I ran back into the living room.

"TWO-BIT! WHERE YA BEEN? IT'S BEEN LIKE, UM, SIX WEEKS! YOU MISSED IT ALL!" Two-Bit smiled.

"Tell me, what did I miss?" I sat down next to him on the couch. I told him the whole story. "And he has to keep the little brat? Poor Steve, wait, poor us. We have to put up with her still." I laughed.

* * *

_Two-Bits back… I had forgotten about him… -Slaps head- Um, yeah, please review… God, my legs hurt I had a soccer game this morning… now off to babysitting._


	11. That Big Ol' Secret

Title- Dealing With It

Chapter Title- That Big Ol' Secret

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

RangerDan- It was more like 35 minutes straight of running up and down a field, a 2 minute break and then another 35 minutes. A little worse than volleyball I would guess.

XAmberX- Sorry, my family ate them, even after my brother said, 'What, did you sit on them?'

Tikagem- Anything is better than school work. Oh, a lemon square!

Note- It's mostly talking. I had to have things work out like this. I had to mention somebody that hadn't been mentioned in a while. But now I must leave you to the story because Thank You for the Venom is one and I love that song.

"Look who stayed home from school today," Nate said as he opened the door.

"I'd shut up Nate, it's your fault. I am so mad at you. How many times am I going to have to say I'm sorry?"

"When were you going to tell me about you and Josh?" Was he being serious? He's been ignoring me. Plus, it only happened this morning.

"I'm sorry, it only happened this morning and you weren't talking to me. Am I going to have to explain more to you?"

"Nah, I just can't believe you hit me. With everything that's been going on, you just hit me." He sat next to me. That was the best thing about Nate. He couldn't hold a grudge for over a day.

"I didn't want to believe you and I didn't want anybody to find out. It didn't matter, he found out anyway. I'm glad he found out. Everything worked out." Nate grinned. I smiled back.

"It was my plan. I'm a genius," he told me.

"You _wanted _me to hit you?" I asked him. There was no way, _no way _he could have predicted that.

"Nah, I wanted to see what you'd do and I figured I'd pass the information on to Josh. He's liked you for a _long _time. And everybody thinks your smart."

"That's quite a speech there Nate. What are mom and dad gonna do when they find out? I know they were okay with him being a friend... but what about as a boyfriend?" Nate shrugged.

"I brought your homework home. Aren't I a nice brother?" I gave him a smile and then a look.

"Can I come in now?" Josh called from outside. Nate opened the door.

"I invited your boyfriend over to do homework. If you don't mind." I shrugged. It's not like I'd do anything. He played football, germs crawled all over him. We went into our room

"Anybody home!" somebody called. I ran back into the living room.

"TWO-BIT! WHERE YA BEEN? IT'S BEEN LIKE, UM, SIX WEEKS! YOU MISSED IT ALL!" Two-Bit smiled.

"Tell me, what did I miss?" I sat down next to him on the couch. I told him the whole story. "And he has to keep the little brat? Poor Steve, wait, poor us. We have to put up with her still." I laughed.

"Yeah, I just gotta make sure I am always busy. It won't be to hard. I got a boyfriend this morning!" I smiled.

"And when you aren't busy with the lucky guy, you can come over to my place and we can watch Mickey and eat ice cream or cake or do something. As long as it keeps me away from the Mickey hating brat. So, who's the lucky guy?" I called Josh in.

I couldn't tell if Two-Bit liked him or not. It didn't matter. I liked him and my parents liked him. Well, when they found out we were going out, it might change.

"Why'd you stop by anyway?" I asked Two-Bit.

"I ran out of food at my place," he responded. A few months back, Two-Bit _finally _moved out of his mom's house and moved into an apartment. He's a comedian. Sometimes he goes to other states to do shows at clubs. I wasn't allowed to listen when he first started. I'm not sure mom and dad would be happy if they found out that I was hearing his stuff now. I'm fifteen, I'm mature. Well, maybe not mature, but I'm old enough to hear these things. I've seen 'the video'.

"You only visit us because you have no food? I feel loved. Where were you, any where cool?" I always loved hearing about these places.

"Alabama, anything happen with you while I was gone?" I sighed.

"Yeah, I went to New York and found out that I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or OCD," I explained. He nodded.

"You're mom went _back _to New York?" I nodded.

"Why was she there before?" I told you I was going to figure out.

"Well, lemme see. She moved here, then her friend was dying so she went back, then she came back and got married to your dad and had you and Nate. Then your dad got drafted into the war and your mom didn't wanna be here without him so she packed you and Nate into Steve's car and drove off to New York." My dad was in the war and they never told me?

"Dad was in the war and Nate and I never knew? What happened to him?" I was going to find out. I was so happy.

"He came home because he was shot in the leg and couldn't walk. He eventually got better. He just tore some muscle and tendons and ligaments. It was nothing big."

"My dad was shot?" This was a surprise. When mom or dad walked through that door, they were going to hear about it. I hoped it was mom, it should be, and she was normally first home. I hated to yell at dad, actually, I have never done it before.

"_So give me all your poison; and give me all your pills…" Oh, sorry, didn't see you there! Josh's dad was mentioned briefly in The Outsiders, take a stab at it and tell me who it is. I love to hear all your crazy answers. I made it pretty obvious in the description two chapters ago. If you can't figure it out, re-read that chapter and the book. It's as clear as day... or maybe not... You might have to think hard about it... The answer will be mentioned next chapter, I'm not **that **mean. Till then, you basically need to review to find out. Here's your next chapter clip like thing…_

Around four, the front door opened. Mom took off her shoes and took her hair out of the ponytail. I waited until she was settled. She was drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen table while looking at the newspaper. I don't think she really reads it. She normally puts it down ten seconds later and forgets about it. I walked into the kitchen and sat across from her. She lowered the paper and looked at me.

"When were you going to tell us?" I asked. I don't know why I didn't make it more specific. At first, mom looked confused. She stared at me for a while.

"Tell you what?" she asked. I stared back at her.

"About dad and about the first time we went to New York," I said. I was actually quite calm. Not on the inside, on the inside I was breaking down and yelling and crying. I could've lost my dad before I really knew him. It wasn't fair for them to keep it a secret.

"He's alright, it doesn't matter," she responded. She had put the paper down completely and hadn't taken a sip of her coffee since I came in.

"What, what would've happened if he died? What were you going to tell us, that he died in a car accident? Were you going to move us to New York, away from our family?" My voice got a little louder and I was trying hard not to yell. I was trying hard not to cry.

_Review to find out the rest and about Josh's dad!_


	12. What's The Big Deal?

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- What's the Big Deal?

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers- Imaginary cookies to anybody who was right! Now to my individual thank you's.

RangerDan- Ha, now you own me two shiny pennies and a guitar (preferably electric, I have an acoustic)

XAmberX- It was The Outsider, and I don't have any cookies. My family ate them…

Tikagem- Ding, ding, ding… we have a winner! Although, I might've accepted Mickey Mouse, and I don't have brownies… I have a broken digital.

oOoRikku4EveroOo- It is cute, if I say so myself

Emma Bryant- You, are, correct! Yippee!

Note- The answer is revealed in this chapter! Just like I said it would. Sometimes, only sometimes, I keep my promises. This chapter is also a lot of talking. I'm better at having people talk. I don't know why, it is actually quite weird.

Around four, the front door opened. Mom took off her shoes and took her hair out of the ponytail. I waited until she was settled. She was drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen table while looking at the newspaper. I don't think she really reads it. She normally puts it down ten seconds later and forgets about it. I walked into the kitchen and sat across from her. She lowered the paper and looked at me.

"When were you going to tell us?" I asked. I don't know why I didn't make it more specific. At first, mom looked confused. She stared at me for a while.

"Tell you what?" she asked. I stared back at her.

"About dad and about the first time we went to New York," I said. I was actually quite calm. Not on the inside, on the inside I was breaking down and yelling and crying. I could've lost my dad before I really knew him. It wasn't fair for them to keep it a secret.

"He's alright, it doesn't matter," she responded. She had put the paper down completely and hadn't taken a sip of her coffee since I came in.

"What, what would've happened if he died? What were you going to tell us, that he died in a car accident? Were you going to move us to New York, away from our family?" My voice got a little louder and I was trying hard not to yell. I was trying hard not to cry.

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter. Dad is okay; maybe I would've told you the truth. How did you find out?" She was looking at me carefully.

"Two-Bit stopped by and wanted to know what happened while he was gone. I told him we went to New York and he said again and so I asked. He told me why you went back the first time, and how come you went back a second time, with us." She just nodded. She finally picked up her coffee cup and took a sip.

"Is he still here? Is he staying for dinner?"

"Yeah, oh, and mom, can Nate and I have our friend over for dinner as well?" I figured I'd tell everybody at dinner. Mom nodded. I walked into the room I shared with Nate and sat down on the bed.

"What's up, Ron?" Josh asked me. He looked up from the homework he was working on with Nate.

"My mom said it's okay if you stay for dinner. She hasn't found out yet, I'm going to tell them tonight. I want you here when I tell them. Nate, Two-Bit's also staying over for dinner."

We worked on homework until we were called for dinner. I sat down next to Two-Bit and Josh sat down next to me. Nate sat on the other side of Josh, across from mom. Next to mom sat dad, then Steve, then Winnie. I looked at Josh and smiled. I was going to tell everybody in:

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

"Mom, dad, I need to tell you something," I said quietly. I was starting to get nervous. My palms were sweaty, which made them feel gross.

"Yeah," mom said. She was probably remembering the conversation we had about an hour ago.

"Josh, Josh and I are going out," I said softly. I looked down at my plate and felt my cheeks burn up. I never remember feeling that shy. The kitchen was quiet for a bit. Nobody moved.

"Oh," mom said, "I guess that makes you Josh." She was looking at Josh now.

"Yeah, that's me." He wasn't speaking any softer. He was staring at her, looking her directly in the eye. I wondered how many times he had to do this.

"So, Josh, where do you live?" Dad asked him. I hoped my parents had no problem with the West-side.

"I'm from the West-side of town," he replied, now facing dad.

"Do you have a last name?" Two-Bit asked.

"Yeah, Holden, my name is Josh Holden." Two-Bit and Steve kind of stared at each other and dad dropped his fork.

"Your dad is your dad's name Paul?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Josh replied. Did my parents, in some freaky way, know his?

"Wow, it's a small world," Steve said. How did these people know Josh's dad? This wasn't fair! It was like some big secret and I wasn't in on it.

"Huh?" my brother finally asked. He was just as confused as I was. Actually, Nate, Josh, mom and I were all confused. Winnie was too busy sticking her green beans into her mashed potatoes to care.

"His dad used to play football with Darry," dad explained. He leaned over to mom and whispered something in her ear. I didn't catch it, but whatever it was made mom go 'oh'.

"Josh plays football, he's a half-back," I said. Nobody said anything. They just started to eat again. I looked at Josh and Nate, a little worried.

After dinner, I cleared my plate and went outside with Nate and Josh. I didn't say much, and I didn't care when Josh sat next to me on the porch and put his arm around my shoulder. I didn't hear much either. I could make out the occasional 'it'll be fine', but that was it. It started to get darker and I was getting tired. I rested my head on Josh's shoulder and almost fell asleep, _almost_.

Mom came outside and told Josh that it was time to go. I think Steve gave him a ride home. Mom led me to my bedroom. I curled myself into the quilt, making a cocoon. Nate and I have our own separate beds now; we still share the same room. Its walls are colored and the door frame is cut up, it's home.

_No clips for you this time. Sorry, although, I do have up to 16 written. I just don't feel like getting the files open and that junk…_


	13. It Isn't Right

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- It Isn't Right

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Tikagem- It changed, I have up to 20, and I just wait for reviewers…

HMMMMMhmmmHMMMMMMhmmmm- I don't know, what happened?

XAmberX-

Note- My Chemical Romance is on, I'm tired, and my legs hurt from running. That's important… Yeah, right. Any way, the front page of my Newspaper: 'The Outsiders are Still In' That is now pinned to my wall... picture and artical. _"Love is the red, the rose on your coffin door"_

Nate and I walked to the corner the next day. Josh met us at the corner and walked next to me. I was going into school for the first time with a boyfriend. I still wished I knew what dad said to mom last night. It was killing me.

"Nate, do you know what dad said to mom last night?" I asked.

"Nope, but, we could take a detour and see Uncle Darry," he told me.

"He's at work," I replied.

"I forgot," Nate whispered, embarrassed. We walked to school and went to our lockers. The three of us had 1st, 5th, and 7th period together. So our lockers were close together. They put our lockers near our first period class. Nate and I had, well, every period together. Nate was always quiet, he hardly ever spoke. He never raised his hand and most of the time when a teacher asked a question he just shrugged. He wasn't the teacher's favorite. I, on the other hand, talked non-stop. I never raised my hand but when I was called on, I had a pretty good answer or a remark to make. I, also, wasn't the teacher's favorite.

We had lunch fifth period. The three of us sat next to each other, me in the middle. Nate and I had identical lunches, except he had peanut butter and jelly and I had ham and cheese. Josh had some kind of fancy food. He always stole my cookies. He never liked his food.

"You guys wanna come over and do homework?" Josh asked in between bites of whatever.

"Sure," I said. I wasn't going to pass up a chance to stay away from Winnie. Besides, this guy was my boyfriend.

"I'll ask mom and dad if you guys can eat over. I need to introduce you to my family," he told me.

"We'll have to ask mom and dad," Nate piped up. Oh, god, he was right. Would mom and dad let me?

"I'll go call now," I told Nate. Dad would be the easiest to persuade. I got some changed from my bag and went to the nearest payphone. "Hello, is Mr. Curtis there?" I asked when somebody picked up.

"Hang on... CURTIS," my dad's boss yelled.

"Hello?" dad asked.

"Dad, can I eat dinner over my friend's house with Nate?" If I didn't go into specifics, maybe he'd let me.

"Yeah, look, I'm busy," he told me.

"So we can?"

"Sure, bye," he said. Dad must've been really busy. Oh well, it worked out for me.

I went back to the lunch table and told them that we could go over. Nate wanted to know how I got it past mom. I didn't ask mom, I was smart. I know who to ask for certain things. Maybe, tonight we'd figure out what freaked everybody out last night.

The Holden house was really clean. Everything sparkled in their house. I loved it.

"Who are your guests, Josh?" Mrs. Holden asked.

"Mom, dad, these are my friends, Ronnie and Nate. Well, Ronnie isn't just my friend. She's my girlfriend." He was looking her in the eye. That's where he got it from, he was raised right. We were eating dinner at the dinner table. It was quiet. It wasn't like my family. At my house it was so noisy and everybody talked over everybody else. Here, Josh didn't talk unless he was asked a question.

"That's wonderful son, so, Ronnie where do you live?" I knew it was coming.

"I live on the East-side, sir," I added quickly.

"Nate is your brother?"

"Yes sir, he's my twin. I'm Ronnie Curtis and he's Nate Curtis."

"Curtis," Mr. Holden repeated. "Do you know a Darrel Curtis?" he asked.

"Yes sir, he's my uncle. My dad's Sodapop." He nodded.

"I used to play football with him, then I went to college and he stayed with the Greasers. We met again at the big rumble. I started it, the Greasers ended up beating us Socs." Greaser, Soc, now I was confused...

"Um, sir, may I ask what Greasers and Socs are?" He looked at me like I was crazy. Well, don't blame me for my OCD!

"Your family hasn't told you? Well, the rich kids from the West-side were Socs and the poor kids from the East-side were Greasers. They were constantly fighting, eternally enemies." That's what was wrong. My dad must've told my mom that the Holden's were Socs. I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be with Josh. I glanced at the clock, it was six.

"I just remembered, dad said to be home at six, we gotta go, c'mon Nate!" I grabbed his hand and got our stuff from Josh's room. "Thanks for dinner Mr. and Mrs. Holden," I called as I dragged Nate out of the house.

"Why'd ya do that?" he asked.

"Don't you get it? Our family hates Josh's family! I can't be with Josh! I need to find some East-side kid."

"C'mon Ron, they didn't seem to mind," Nate pleaded.

"But it's just not right!" I shouted. I ran home and locked our bedroom door. I sobbed on my bed. It wasn't fair; the one kid I like is eternal enemies with my family.

"Ronnie, can I come in?" Nate begged.

"Go away," I snapped and threw my pillow at the door.

"Veronica Lynn, you open the door for your brother this instant!" Uh-oh that was my mom. She didn't sound so happy. I unlocked the door and walked into the bathroom. "Ronnie, baby, what's wrong?" she asked, blocking my entrance to the bathroom.

"Why do we have to be poor?" I asked her.

"I was stupid and I dropped out of high school. I could have stayed there and become like a doctor or something, why?"

"Josh is rich and I can't be with him," I whined.

"Baby, we never said that," she said.

"Mr. Holden looked disgusted when I told him we were from the East-side; I didn't want him in trouble. I need to call him now." I walked to the phone and dialed his number. "Is Josh there?" I asked.

"Speaking," he replied.

"Look, Josh, it's Ronnie. I can't be with you anymore."

"Why Ron?" he asked.

"I just can't," I said sharply. "Bye," I told him, softly.

"Bye Ronnie," he whispered. I hung up the phone, feeling like crap. I searched our kitchen, finding some cake. I got out some chocolate milk and ate my cake quietly. I knew I was going to cry, I just didn't want to. He was the first person, besides Nate, that I let touch me.

* * *

_Hate me; go ahead… that leads up to some very important things in the next chapters… The next chapter is serious…

* * *

_

"You bitch," she whimpered, on the verge of crying. I walked away, quickly into the class. She left in the opposite direction. She went towards the principal's office.

First period, the teacher gave us a pop quiz. God, I had missed so much school. I was struggling. I always struggled in school. I was only in the advanced class because Nate was. After that whole thing in kindergarten, we had to be in class together. Nate flew through the regular classes with such ease that they couldn't keep him in them. I was pulled into the advanced classes. I was trying to sneak glances at Nate's paper. It was hard to do without getting caught. Nate sat in a weird way. I tapped my fingers on my desk, and Nate knew what it meant. Occasionally, he started sliding his paper over. He understood that if I failed, he got put back into regular classes with me or we got split up.

Then there came the knock. It was a light tap on the door. I jerked my head up, like everybody else and watched the teacher open the door. Standing on the other side was the principal's secretary. 'Oh, please, don't be for me,' I thought. '_Please_, don't say Veronica Curtis.' I watched the secretary talk to the teacher. As she nodded her head, her gray bun bobbed up and down. The teacher turned towards me and pointed. She signaled for me to go over there. I got up and walked over to them.

* * *

_I opened up my files :-)… XAmberX- maybe I will get lazy…_


	14. The Day After

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- The Day After

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Tikagem- I couldn't update super fast. Hey, it looks like you're my only reviewer. Those other people suck! J/K, I love those other people. Its school is horrible. I hate it and it's stealing my reviewers and they won't let me torch them. Oh well… I must go onto the story.

Note- The awfully important author's note is at the bottom. The rest of this is my hopeless rambling. School, Arghh, it _sucks! _Except Chem. I have it with one of my _best _friends and it rocks!

Nate and I walked to school alone. Josh wasn't waiting at the corner. I was really nervous. I hoped he didn't hate me. I hadn't made things clear on the phone last night. I wondered how 1, 5, and 7 periods would go. Nate told me he had to go meet somebody and left. I could see him walking to Josh. I could tell he was. Nate was considerate like that; he would never bring over somebody that would make me uncomfortable. I decided to go into the school building. I couldn't believe how fast the news had spread. Did Josh say something, did Nate?

_"I heard he dumped her for a rich chick."_

_"No, she dumped him because he made a pass at her mother."_

_"Assholes, he was using her to get to her **brother**. She caught them kissing. They're gay!"_

I spun around at the last one and punched the girl's jaw. I instantly recognized her. Her name was Janice Something. Well, something wasn't her real last name, I just don't remember it. Well, anyway, her name was Janice and she was the weakest girl in history. You could poke this girl and she would start wailing. I instantly regretted acting on impulse. I knew for sure she'd tell the principal. It was funny that she was so weak; I heard her dad was so tough. Well, not anymore. He got into crack and shit. I swear I've never seen the guy when he wasn't stoned. Shepard that was her last name. Janice Shepard, her dad was Tim. I don't remember her complete story. We tried to be friends once, but that didn't work out. Her crack head dad was really weird. He kept making these rude remarks that I _didn't _want to hear.

"You bitch," she whimpered, on the verge of crying. I walked away, quickly into the class. She left in the opposite direction. She went towards the principal's office.

First period, the teacher gave us a pop quiz. God, I had missed so much school. I was struggling. I always struggled in school. I was only in the advanced class because Nate was. After that whole thing in kindergarten, we had to be in class together. Nate flew through the regular classes with such ease that they couldn't keep him in them. I was pulled into the advanced classes. I was trying to sneak glances at Nate's paper. It was hard to do without getting caught. Nate sat in a weird way. I tapped my fingers on my desk, and Nate knew what it meant. Occasionally, he started sliding his paper over. He understood that if I failed, he got put back into regular classes with me or we got split up.

Then there came the knock. It was a light tap on the door. I jerked my head up, like everybody else and watched the teacher open the door. Standing on the other side was the principal's secretary. 'Oh, please, don't be for me,' I thought. '_Please_, don't say Veronica Curtis.' I watched the secretary talk to the teacher. As she nodded her head, her gray bun bobbed up and down. The teacher turned towards me and pointed. She signaled for me to go over there. I got up and walked over to them.

"Veronica Curtis," the teacher said, "you need to go to the principal, get your stuff and you'll finish the test tomorrow." I nodded and got my bag from the side of my desk. I followed the secretary to the office.

I had been in the office a _few _times. The secretary pointed to the chair across from the desk and handed me a stack of papers. I knew these papers by heart. I filled them out quickly and almost threw them at her. I caught myself and nicely placed them on her desk. She just nodded and pointed to the principal's door. I opened it up.

"Ah, Ronnie, how long as it been?" Mr. Jones, the principal, asked me. I smiled. Okay, I had been in there more than a few times.

"Little more than two weeks, I believe," I answered him. Mr. Jones was the only adult in this school that didn't call me Veronica or Miss Curtis. I really respected him for that and other reasons. He always acted like my friend when I was in trouble and he never called my parents. I either got detention or a day of ISS, but that was all. In Junior High School and Elementary School, I was suspended _at least once_ and my parents were called, like, every other day.

"That's a pretty long stretch there, isn't it? Anyway, Ronnie, could you tell me why you're here?" He asked, sitting down in his big leather chair. I sat across from him in my chair. It wasn't really _my _chair, we just called it that. Nobody else could sit on it; he kept it in the corner and dragged it out when I was sent in.

"Well, Bob, may I call you Bob?" I asked.

"Ronnie," he said in a warning voice, "my name isn't Bob, you know that. I'm not your neighbor, I'm your principal."

"Okay, _Mr. _Bob, here's how I see it. Either I punched some girl or I mouthed off to a teacher, you tell me."

"Why do you instantly assume you punched a _girl_? I know you've punched boys before. Anyway, yes, you did punch a girl. I think I'm going to give you one day of In-School Suspension _and _I'm going to have to notify your parents about this one."

"But, but, Mr. Jones, you _can't _do that, you just _can't_!" I whined.

"Ronnie, I've let you off easy for a lot of things. I really need to notify your parents just once." I looked at him.

"Fine," I sighed, "only 'cause you're only giving my ISS for this." Most people would have gotten regular suspension or two days worth of ISS. Right from the start, and I don't know why, Mr. Jones always was nice to me.

"Can I ask you one thing?" he asked me.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," I answered.

"Why?" he questioned.

"Why did I hit Janice? I'll tell you why! She called my brother and friend gay! Okay, and she doesn't even know them that well and it's not true!" I shouted. I got up and walked out of the office. I didn't take too long in the office; I only missed a half a period. I guess I was mad at Mr. Jones for calling my parents. I knew I was in for it at home. Normally, we would have talked about how my schoolwork was going and things that were going on at home. Hey, I never told him about my OCD! I turned around and went back into the office.

"Mr. Jones," I shouted. He put his finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet. He pointed at his ear, he was on the phone. I knew it was with my mom. Today was one of her days off.

"No, Mrs. Curtis, one day of In-School Suspension is fine. I don't think she needs anymore. We can't have her miss anymore school and I really need an adult to supervise her. You and your husband both work. You will not take off from work; she will sit in my office where she will be doing work. There will also be teachers around incase she has any questions. I'll talk to you later Mrs. Curtis. Good-bye," he said and hung up the phone. "Yes Ronnie?" he asked, looking at me.

"I never told you why I was absent."

"I've heard Ronnie, OCD, that's nice. You really need to get to class. I have work to do."

"Mr. Jones, c'mon, why can't we talk?"

"Ronnie," he warned.

"Fine, bye," I sighed and walked out of the office. I slammed the door and stomped to third period.

The rest of the day was fine. That is until I got nervous around lunch. I didn't know what to do. Nate already informed me that he was sitting with Josh. I wanted to sit near Josh as well. I didn't hate him; I still wanted to be his friend. Josh was waiting for Nate at his locker.

"Hey man," Josh said to Nate.

"Hey," Nate said back.

"Hi," I said nervously and waved to Josh.

"Ronnie," he said, "I need to talk to you." I felt his hand slip into mine as he pulled me away to an empty classroom.

"Yeah," I said.

"About last night," he began.

"I'm sorry, it felt right at the time," I cut him off.

"No, I'm not mad at you. My dad is actually happy. He said I could hang out with you guys but I had to date a West-side girl. But, I don't like any West-side girls, I like you." I blushed.

"I like you too," I said softly.

"I heard about Janice," he mentioned.

"It was nothing," I said, blushing more. He slipped his other hand into mine. The next thing I know, we were face to face and his lips briefly brushed against mine. I backed up quickly, startled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he mumbled, looking at his feet.

"Don't be," I whispered. I kissed his cheek. "What does this make us?" I asked him. I really wanted him to say we were together again.

"Together," he told me as he hugged me. We walked towards Nate, hand in hand. I was smiling and so was Josh. When Nate saw us he smiled. We headed to the cafeteria and things went back to the way they were the day before. Josh stealing my cookies and the three of us talking about nothing and everything. I smiled for the rest of the day, even as my mom flipped out at me for hitting Janice.

_Here's an important author's note on the bottom! Before you review saying I'm an asshole about the homosexuality remark or a homophobe or something, hear me out. First, I must say **I have nothing against homosexuals**, or bisexuals for that matter. The only reason I added this was because, hey, it's around the 80's. You know, that whole big thing with HIV/AIDS being the 'gay' disease. It was something that most people disapproved on. I only added it because of that, and I had to have a reason for Ronnie to go down to the principal's office. I knew she was going to hit somebody, but that was the only thing I could think of that would piss her off that much. So, once again **I have NOTHING against homosexuals or bisexuals**._

"Veronica," Winnie called. "I made a pretty picture for you!" Josh didn't seem to care that she was probably coming closer, neither did I. She shouldn't come into this room. "Nathaniel," she shrieked. I broke away from Josh and stared at her. Why did she come in here?

"Yeah Winnie?" he asked her. Then he looked up and saw me blushing. I was cherry red and I started to giggle.

"What are you doing in Auntie Jessica's room?" she asked. She never said Uncle Sodapop. I _never _heard her say it. She never said Soda or Sodapop at all. Maybe she didn't like that name.

"Nothing, uh, don't worry about it," I told her.

"I know what you were doing, you were kissing. Ew, gross," she said. "I'm gonna tell!" she yelled and started to run around the house. Nate looked at us and laughed.

"Sucks to be you," he told me. I gave him the finger. Josh laughed at us arguing.

_I brought back Winnie… I love that little monster. LOL, anyway… if you wanna talk to me AIM: gcbabe1891 and my Yahoo! IM is on my user look-up… just click my name and scroll down… it's there!_


	15. Don't Go

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Don't Go

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

XAmberX- It's okay, I made you guys wait for this. One thing, please don't use the word gay like that… I have a thing about the word gay being used in a negative way. One of my best friends happens to be gay and it really hurts.

RangerDan- I don't hate people that are gay or bi, as I said… one of my best friends is.

Tikagem- You think twice a day is a lot? I am constantly checking my e-mail. I have this thing about it and I _need_ to.

darkravenX0- Okay, that girl, she was a senior: Diana Cepeda… she was hit by a car Tuesday night and killed. It's actually quite sad, I didn't know her though.

Note- A lot of talking this chapter. Yay for Josh and Ronnie, I love those two. 'Course I should, I made them. Also, I am sorry this took a while. My mother was bitching about the housework not getting done. She told me I wasted my life away glued to the computer screen. I was banned from the computer until I did my chores. Luckily, I got them done quickly because I knew you wanted to find out what happened to Ronnie, Nate, and Josh. I got a Green Day poster… finally! And my My Chemical Romance CD! So, without further ado, here is Chapter 15 of Dealing with It, Don't Go...

That weekend Nate and I were supposed to baby-sit Winnie. I was a nice sister and invited over Josh. Nate groaned when I told him. He had the full responsibility of demon-child. Josh came over around 10, after everybody left and Nate was coloring with Winnie. He stuck his tongue out at me and I smiled. I figured Josh and I would go in my parents' room, the one place Winnie knew not to go in.

"This sucks, what can we do? We can't go out, you're 'baby-sitting', we can't watch television because it's in the living room and that's where the monster is." He looked at me and placed his arm over my shoulder. Just being with him was nice.

"We can sit here and talk," I suggested.

"Talk about what?" he asked. "We've talked about everything."

"Yeah," I answered and sighed. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I really like being with you Ronnie," he told me. I smiled. And then, something clicked.

"Holy shit!" I said loudly, but not loud enough for Winnie to hear.

"What is it?" he asked me, looking genuinely concerned.

"My ERP," I said. He looked confused. "For my OCD," I explained.

"Aren't you doing that right now, by touching me and not going to wash your hands?" he asked. The day after we got back together again, I explained to him my OCD and I briefly went into my ERP. I smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so." Then he kissed me.

"You're doing very well," he joked.

"Yeah," I replied and kissed him back. Then he kissed me again, this time it wasn't on the cheek. It was on the lips and it wasn't the same as when he first kissed me back in school. It was longer, deeper, more passionate I guess. Then, I heard it.

"Veronica," Winnie called. "I made a pretty picture for you!" Josh didn't seem to care that she was probably coming closer, neither did I. She shouldn't come into this room. "Nathaniel," she shrieked. I broke away from Josh and stared at her. Why did she come in here?

"Yeah Winnie?" he asked her. Then he looked up and saw me blushing. I was cherry red and I started to giggle.

"What are you doing in Auntie Jessica's room?" she asked. She never said Uncle Sodapop. I never heard her say it. She never said Soda or Sodapop at all. Maybe she didn't like that name.

"Nothing, uh, don't worry about it," I told her.

"I know what you were doing, you were kissing. Ew, gross," she said. "I'm gonna tell!" she yelled and started to run around the house. Nate looked at us and laughed.

"Sucks to be you," he told me. I gave him the finger. Josh laughed at us arguing.

"We weren't just kissing; we were doing my OCD treatment."

"Mom isn't going to believe that."

"I know, but I was informing you," I told him. Winnie came back into the room and stood near Josh, staring right at him.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Josh," he answered.

"What's your full name?" she asked him.

"Josh Holden," he replied.

"Is Josh short for somethin'?" she questioned. She had gotten that from her mother. She never used nicknames. It was the oddest thing. She called Two-Bit Keith, just like her mother had.

"Yeah, Joshua," he told her.

"Okie Dokie," she shouted and ran around the house again. "Joshua and Veronica sitting in a tree," she sang. We just laughed and went into the living room. Now that she found out, we could watch television or something.

We had finally gotten her to be quiet when mom came home. Winnie looked at the door, probably expecting to see her mom with mine. She turned towards the television frowning. Then she gasped, like she remembered something. She got up and ran over to my mom.

"Auntie Jessica, Auntie Jessica," she said, bouncing up and down. Did Nate give her sugar?

"Yes Winnie?" mom asked. She looked at Nate and me. We both shrugged.

"I found Veronica and Joshua in your room!" she shouted. Mom looked at us confused. "That's not all," she screamed.

"Really?" mom asked. She moved away from the door.

"Yeah, they were KISSING!" she screamed. Uncle Steve and dad walked in as soon as she said kissing. I turned cherry red again and sank in the couch. Dad and Steve looked at mom, confused.

"What?" she said looking at Josh and I. "Veronica, Lynn, Curtis," she said. There was a breath between each name. "You know how much is wrong with that? First off, my room is off limits, you've known that since you had your own room. Second, you were supposed to be baby-sitting your cousin with Nate. Third, you never asked if Josh could come over and fourth, you kissed him!" she shouted.

"I should go now," Josh said nervously.

"Yeah, Winnie and I are going to go," Steve said picking up Winnie. "I'll give you a ride," he told Josh as they walked out. Nate went into our room and I sat on the couch. I picked my legs up and hugged them close to my body."

I'm sorry," I said, close to crying.

"I thought, we thought, you broke up with Josh," she said.

"We got back together, but we didn't tell you guys because of the whole money thing," I answered.

"I don't know what to do to you about your lying. Oh, I know how about you go to work with your dad tomorrow. Soda, this time she has to go. No bringing her to her friend's house. It's a punishment." Dad nodded and I groaned. "Go to your room until dinner."

"I'm gonna hate you for this," I told her.

"Oh well," she replied and went into the kitchen to start making dinner. I stomped off into the bedroom and sat on the bed.

"I'm going to work with dad," I told Nate. Nate frowned; he hates it when he has to watch Winnie by himself. "Oh stop complaining," I said to him and smacked the back of his head with a pillow. "Look, I think I'm going out. Cover for me?" He nodded. It wasn't hard to cover for me when I was punished. All he had to do was say I was really mad and I didn't want to come out. "Two hours at the most," I told him. That would mean I had to be back around seven.

I opened the window and climbed out. I started walking down the road to Josh's house when I saw him coming. I ran over to him and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry," he told me.

"Don't be," I answered.

"I hate your mom," he told me. I stepped back.

"I do too, but, why?" I wanted to know.

"She called my dad. He wants us to break up again. He's furious with me and now he doesn't want us to be friends." I hugged him again. I started to cry. This wasn't fair, not at all.

"I'm not breaking up with you, ever. I like you too much," I told him. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I like you a lot too, that's why I'm running away. I don't need to listen to him."

"Don't do that for me," I begged him.

"I want to." I backed out of his hug again. Tears were running down my cheeks. I could taste the salty liquid on my lips. He wiped them away and kissed me.

"I'm coming with you," I told him afterwards.

"You can't, I don't want you hurt," he answered.

"Where are you going?"

"Away," he replied.

"Josh, I'm coming with you!" I shouted.

"No, I don't know where I'm going or when I'm coming back. You need to stay here."

"You're leaving town?" I nearly choked on my tears.

"Yeah, but Ronnie, I'm doing this for us. I'll be back. I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," I replied. He kissed me.

"I'll always be yours," he said. "I need to go." I grabbed his arm and tried to stop him. He gave me another kiss and left me there, crying. I watched him head back to the West-side. As soon as he turned a corner I headed back home. I climbed back in through the window and cried.

"Why can't we be together?" I whispered to nobody. I cried myself to sleep that night.

* * *

_I am not lazy so here is your clip like thing. By-the-way I have this story finished; now you just need to review. It's approximately 26 chapters.

* * *

_

I tried to beg dad to let me go off. I could protect myself, I hit kids. (Not that I am proud of that.) Well, whatever mom bribed or threatened dad with, must've worked good. He was not going to let me go off and I tried everyway I could. If I told him I wanted to go to the store to get some soda, he'd buy me one at the gas station. If I said I wanted to get some air, he came outside with me.

I had a plan to get out of the smelly, germy as station. It was very simple, wait for dad to go to the bathroom. Uncle Steve took off today because Winnie was feeling sick, so he wasn't here to keep an eye on me. After lunch dad had to use the toilet. I quickly ran out so he couldn't catch me.

I headed towards the West-side. I was going to march right up to the Holden's door and demand to know why Josh couldn't hang around us. As I walked there, I got nervous. I almost turned back before I realized dad would be pissed.

* * *

_There you go. I hope you enjoy it._


	16. M, moving?

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- M, moving?

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders, I own a paper clip, two dimes, and a bit of string. (No, I did not steal that from darkravenx0, she stole it from me...)

Reviewers-

Tikagem- I'd rather have you wait in agony…

RangerDan- Okay, I didn't see the J/K… I'm not mad, and you must know, I tend to have a temper sometimes and I jump to conclusions (mostly about people being stupid)

XAmberX- The whole story is cheesy! I hope you like cheesy stuff because it's so cheesy I am swimming in cheese!

Note- Tomorrow is my daddy's birthday… Happy Birthday Daddy! We had a cake today; it said "Happy Birthday, Can I have a car?" It was my sister's stroke of genius.

Why was he leaving? I just didn't understand. If he was leaving to be with me, how come he was leaving me? I was going to go to his house and find out. There was a tiny problem: dad's job. I had to go to work with him.

I tried to beg dad to let me go off. I could protect myself, I hit kids. (Not that I am proud of that.) Well, whatever mom bribed or threatened dad with, must've worked good. He was not going to let me go off and I tried everyway I could. If I told him I wanted to go to the store to get some soda, he'd buy me one at the gas station. If I said I wanted to get some air, he came outside with me.

I had a plan to get out of the smelly, germy as station. It was very simple, wait for dad to go to the bathroom. Uncle Steve took off today because Winnie was feeling sick, so he wasn't here to keep an eye on me. After lunch dadwentto use the toilet. I quickly ran out so he couldn't catch me.

I headed towards the West-side. I was going to march right up to the Holden's door and demand to know why Josh couldn't hang around us. As I walked there, I got nervous. I almost turned back before I realized dad would be pissed.

That's when I saw it. A post in the ground with a piece of sturdy plastic swinging from it. _For Sale_ it read. There was a for sale sign on their property. Josh wasn't running away so he could be with me. He was moving. That's why he didn't know how long or where. I was furious now. I ran up the steps and pounded on the door.

"May I help you?" It was Mrs. Holden. Maybe she wasn't into that whole money thing. Money always kept me away from what I wanted. In the end, I got it. I couldn't get a dog because we couldn't afford it. I couldn't be with Josh because he was rich and I wasn't.

"Is Josh home?" I asked. I was being as polite as I could be. I didn't want to upset her.

"Yes, let me go get him." I thanked her and she turned into the house. A few minutes later Josh came out.

"Ronnie?" he asked. He was a little startled. "Mom, I'm going to go out for an hour." She said okay and Josh and I went to the park.

"You're running away for me? Are you really? No, you're just moving! Did your dad not want to risk you seeing us ever again?" I stared at him. I was trying to keep calm.

"Ronnie, you don't understand," he began.

"No, I never understand. I understand this! I don't want to be with somebody who lies to me! So, you better not talk to me ever again, not even to apologize and you can forget about ever being my boyfriend again," I shouted at him.

"Ronnie calm down," he said getting closer to me. I froze, he was going to try to kiss me or hug me. Germs, all over him, all I could think about were those germs. I pushed him back and ran to the East-side. "Ronnie," I heard him calling. I didn't look back.

I ran back to the gas station. I saw my dad standing at the register. I opened the door and hugged him. I cried, hanging on to him, as he worked. I told Josh I had loved him, I kissed him. I don't think I love him now.

"Ronnie, baby, what's wrong?" dad asked, the first free minute he got. I sniffled and looked at him.

"Josh," I said in between breaths. I rested my head back on his chest and closed my eyes. He was stroking my hair, trying to keep me calm. "I wanna go home," I told him.

"I need to work late tonight, because Steve isn't here and there's a car that needs to be done. Want me to call mom?" he asked. I looked at the clock. It was around 4:30, mom was going to be home in a half an hour. I nodded. He called the restaurant and talked to her. She agreed. I knew once I got home she was going to want to talk about this. "Ronnie, as much as I love you, I need to work. Could you sit in the chair?" he asked me. I kept crying but I squeezed his waist tighter.

Around 5 o'clock, mom came in. I knew she saw me clinging to dad as if my life depended on it. She grabbed my waist and pulled me away from dad.

"C'mon, baby, we're going home," she said. I nodded and brushed away my tears. I got in the car while mom asked dad what was wrong. Mom got in the car and didn't say anything. I walked home and went into the bedroom. I sat on my bed, holding my pillow close to my stomach. I rested my chin on my pillow. Tears streamed down my face.

"Ronnie, what's wrong?" Nate asked. He sounded like we were seven again. His voice was quiet, like he only spoke to me. I didn't answer; I only buried my face deeper into the pillow. I heard him leave. Later that night, somebody else came in. They wrapped their arms around me and slid me onto their lap. The person rocked me back and forth, I knew it was mom.

"Ronnie, there's always going to be a few bad guys," she told me. She was speaking softly. I hadn't heard this tone of voice since Jonathan's death. I rested my head against her and nodded. "I know you liked Josh a lot, but things happen for a reason. If my mom hadn't died, I wouldn't have met your dad. I was very upset when my mom died, but when I met your dad things were different. I really liked him. Even though it didn't make things about my mom better, I was happier." I listened to her, carefully. I sort of understood what she was saying. "I love you," she told me. She pulled me off of her lap and pulled the covers over me. She kissed my forehead and left.

"I love you too," I whispered to her. I saw dad peek in and say good-night. Nate came in later. He looked at me, maybe he was mad. Maybe he had spoken to Josh. Maybe he hated me now. I didn't know. I never know.

_Keep those reviews coming because I have finished the story and there is a small four chapter follow-up I have. Let me tell you, two people die in this story. Something else; it's very, very CHEESY!_

"I'm not goin' to school today, I don't feel good," I told him. I didn't feel good, honestly. My stomach felt bad. I hadn't eaten a lot yesterday.

"Well, you'd feel better if you didn't cry about an ass all night." He was being really mean to Josh. I thought Josh was his best friend.

"I thought Josh was your friend," I said.

"He was until I found out what he did to you. I could never be friends with a jerk like that." I smiled. Nate was way too nice. I wished he wasn't my brother. I wished he was my boyfriend, he was sweet.

"Call mom, I wanna stay home," I told him. He sighed and walked out of the room.

I stayed home, eating ice cream and watching television all day. Around 2, the telephone rang. I got up and went into the kitchen.

_My story is so cheesy, I like that word. It shall be my new word. Have fun reading my cheesy story!_


	17. When Partying With TwoBit

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- When Partying with Two-Bit...

Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

XAmberX- I can't promise anything, but it's cheesy. Cheese is good… How's volleyball going?

Tikagem- Nate and cheese, I like them both.

Note- I like this chapter for a few reasons. The first one is Two-Bit is back in it. The second one is that it shows what Nate would do for Ronnie and the bond they have.

I woke up the next morning with my hair sticking to my face. I could feel the dried tears on my cheeks. My nose was stuffed and my mouth was dry. My lips were chapped. I was being shaken by somebody, but I couldn't tell who. It was too gentle to be mom, not gentle enough to be Nate, and dad was at work. I rolled onto my stomach and put the pillow over my head.

"Nate, she isn't waking up," I heard somebody say. Was that Josh?

"I wouldn't blame her, she spent all night crying over you," Nate snapped back. He sounded really pissed, more pissed than he had ever been at me. It was Josh. I was going to stay in bed. "I don't know why you came here, but she won't get up if you're here. So leave," he told him. I heard the front door open and then close. "Ronnie, Josh left, so get your ass out of bed. Wake up," Nate said.

"I'm not goin' to school today, I don't feel good," I told him. I didn't feel good, honestly. My stomach felt bad. I hadn't eaten a lot yesterday.

"Well, you'd feel better if you didn't cry about an ass all night." He was being really mean to Josh. I thought Josh was his best friend.

"I thought Josh was your friend," I said.

"He was until I found out what he did to you. I could never be friends with a jerk like that." I smiled. Nate was way too nice. I wished he wasn't my brother. I wished he was my boyfriend, he was sweet.

"Call mom, I wanna stay home," I told him. He sighed and walked out of the room.

I stayed home, eating ice cream and watching television all day. Around 2, the telephone rang. I got up and went into the kitchen.

"Hello," I said casually. I tried to sound older, like my mom.

"Mrs. Curtis, this is Mr. Jones, Nate's principal." What did Nate do?

"Hello Mr. Jones," I said. I hoped I was going to be able to convince him.

"I have your son, Nate, here. He's in trouble for punching a young man named Joshua Holden." No, he didn't. "I think I'm going to give him a day of In-School Suspension and a detention because he couldn't supply me with a reason."

"Yes sir," I answered. I realized what I said and I hoped he didn't notice that. I hung up and went back into the living room. I put my feet up on the coffee table and started to eat my ice cream again.

"Anybody home?" Two-Bit called opening the door.

"I am," I answered. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. He sat down next to me.

"Why are you home, did you cut school?" he asked, grabbing the remote from me.

"No, I felt sick this morning," I answered, pulling the remote back out of his hand.

"So, you watched television and ate ice cream all day?" he asked. I smiled and nodded. I told him about everything that had happened with Josh. "Bastard," he muttered. I giggled a little. "You must feel upset," he said. I nodded. "Well, let's go!" he shouted and sprang to his feet.

"Huh?" I questioned. He pulled his keys out of his leather jacket and grabbed my arm. He opened his car door and I got in. "So, where are we going?" I asked him.

"I'm taking you to get a fake idea and then I'm taking you to a few clubs. You need to meet some guys and party." See, Two-Bit was my favorite adult because he let me do fun, illegal stuff. If mom found out, she would kill me. Dad would' go along with mom or just scold me for a bit. Steve might've taken me to get a fake idea, but never to clubs. I could see him buying a few six packs and giving me one can. We drove to the outskirts of town where he got me a fake idea. It was a pretty good one and gave my age as 21, just old enough to buy some alcohol and get into a club. We drove to a few clubs. There was just a bunch of adults and drinking. I didn't touch any alcohol, but by the end of the night I wouldn't know for sure.

We came home around 11 o'clock. I had called home around 5 to let them know I was out with Two-Bit. I could barely walk and I was leaning on Two-Bit.

"Damn, I told you not to drink, you started off fine by not touching anything," he told me. "We need to get you inside without anybody noticing." I just mumbled 'yeah, sure' and leaned on him more. "Just pretend you're tired," he said. I nodded. I was tired, I hadn't gotten a good sleep last night and I was out pretty late.

We walked into the house and I didn't hear anybody. Nate was probably in bed and who knows where mom and dad went. Two-Bit hit the coffee table with his leg.

"Who's there?" Mom yelled, sounding a bit frustrated.

"Ronnie and Two-Bit," Two-Bit called back. He led me into my room where I fell into my bed.

"Ronnie?" I heard Nate say.

"She's fine," Two-Bit answered. The light went on and I rolled onto my stomach. "Holy, Nate, that's quite a shiner," he exclaimed. I had to see. Sure enough, Nate's eye was colors all around. That's right, he was getting ISS for punching Josh. "What happened?"

"I started something with Josh, he beat the crap out of me," he said softly. "Mom doesn't know I started it." I lay back down and closed me eyes. I was out in a few seconds.

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_Damn, I wish Nate was a real person. I would so want to be his girlfriend. He is so sweet and loyal.

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_

Mom was in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. Her hair was a mess and she was in a large tee-shirt. She overslept, I could tell. Normally she was fully dressed and ready to leave by now. She dumped the rest of her coffee in the sink and went into her room. Nate was sitting at the kitchen table writing something. I peeked at the paper, he was doing my homework. He forged my handwriting pretty well.

"Why Nate?" I asked him. He smiled.

"I know it was you Mr. Jones talked to yesterday on the phone." He sounded like he was yelling. I put my hand to my head.

"Nate, be quiet," I whispered. I made some toast and washed it down with a couple of beers. I thought the beer would numb the pain of my hangover. I put the cans under the sink so mom wouldn't find them. I put on a pair of sweat pants and a large tee-shirt. I felt like being comfortable. Mom came out of her room all dressed and ready to go.

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_Ready, set, click that purple review button! I know you want to what happens to Ronnie at school... Of course, I know everything! Remember, the faster you review the faster you get to find out who dies... (As if that's what you really want to know...)_


	18. After Partying With TwoBit

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- After Partying with Two-Bit

Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

XAmberX- I care… But I don't right now because I am eating popcorn and watching The Outsiders… Sh…

oOoRikku4EveroOo- My kid would be dead, but Jess doesn't know and maybe it will stay that way.

Note- She was really depressed that she went and got herself drunk with Two-Bit, poor Ronnie. Let's see how she handles her hangover and her day back in school after breaking up with Josh. I had one idea for this chapter and I let my mind run with it, this is what I got. Now you know what kind of weird nut I am. Sorry this took so long… I have been admiring my new DVD- The Outsiders: The Complete Novel. Yes, this is the only time I am _not _pissed at my mom because she took me to go get it.

I felt horrible the next morning. The slightest noise made my head ache. I knew what it was. I was experiencing my very first hang over. I had to go to school. My mom told me I could go out with Two-Bit if I went to school the next day. I regretted making that deal with her. I felt sick to my stomach; the only thing I ate yesterday was ice cream.

Mom was in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. Her hair was a mess and she was in a large tee-shirt. She overslept, I could tell. Normally she was fully dressed and ready to leave by now. She dumped the rest of her coffee in the sink and went into her room. Nate was sitting at the kitchen table writing something. I peeked at the paper, he was doing my homework. He forged my handwriting pretty well.

"Why Nate?" I asked him. He smiled.

"I know it was you Mr. Jones talked to yesterday on the phone." He sounded like he was yelling. I put my hand to my head.

"Nate, be quiet," I whispered. I made some toast and washed it down with a couple of beers. I thought the beer would numb the pain of my hangover. I put the cans under the sink so mom wouldn't find them. I put on a pair of sweat pants and a large tee-shirt. I felt like being comfortable. Mom came out of her room all dressed and ready to go.

"I'm going to drive you two today," she told us. I nodded; I could avoid Josh on the side walk. I was lucky.

Mom dropped us off in the front of the school. I wondered what sorts of rumors were started about me already. I saw Janice talking to her friends. I detoured into the bathroom to see what they were talking about.

_"D'ya know why she's dressed like that?"_

_"No, do you?"_

_"I heard they had sex and then he broke up with her."_

_"That's what that fight was about."_

_"Yeah, Nate was pissed he did her and not him."_

_"Yeah, but he was trying to tell Nate that she forced him and he was breaking up with her because he loved Nate."_

_"All three of them are wack-o's."_

I knew better than to start something with them. Nate, Josh, and I knew the truth and that's all that mattered. I walked to my first class when I felt an arm around my waist.

"Hey baby," a boy I recognized as an East-sider said. "Wanna hang out after school?" he said. I was about to say no and pull his arm off of me, but then I saw Josh. He was staring at me. I grinned.

"Yeah," I told him and let his arm stay on my waist. I could feel the germs crawling up my body. It was killing me. Josh walked past, looking awfully pissed. He shouldn't have lied to me. It was his fault I was hurting him now. The boy was named Ben and he was a year older than I was. I had seen him some place before, not just at school. I tried to think. "Do you work?" I asked him. I think he filled tanks at the same gas station my dad worked at.

"Yeah," he said, "at the gas station with your dad. I saw you crying the other day over that ass hole, what was his name, Jeremy?"

"I don't know," I lied and giggled. Nate walked up behind me.

"Hey sis," he said, pulling me away from Ben. "What the hell are you doing with him?" he asked quietly, so Ben couldn't hear.

"Hanging out," I said.

"C'mon, you have to know that this guy is just hanging around you because of the rumors," he told me.

"Rumors, hey, Nate, are you gay?" I asked, loudly. He looked stunned.

"No, I am _not _gay!" He whispered harshly. "It's a rumor," he replied, sounding pissed. "Are you," he paused for a moment, "drunk?"

"What, of course not, I don't drink!" I told him.

"Tell that to the beer cans under the sink." He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the classroom. The teacher welcomed me back and handed me the rest of my test. I scribbled down some nonsense. There was no denying it now, I was drunk.

After class, Ben was waiting outside the class. He kissed my cheek and then started to walk with me. I didn't turn around to see where Nate was.

"Babe," Ben said, "wanna cut with me and my friends?" Cutting with eleventh graders sounded totally cool. I smiled and nodded my head. He laced his fingers in mine and led me out of the building. He kept saying all these weird things and I giggled at them.

"This the girl?" one of his friends asked Ben.

"Sure is," Ben replied.

"Wow," another one said stunned. "Hey, cutie, wanna beer?" he asked. I nodded and caught the one he tossed at me. I popped it open and chugged it.

"She's a drinker, and good looking. You did well with this one, Ben," the first guy said.

"She's hot," a new voice said. We sat down and they started to smoke. "Ya ever tried?" he asked me. I shook my head. I was definitely drunk. He handed me the paper roll and helped me light it. I choked on it a bit. I put it out and rested on the ground.

"I'll stick to beer," I said unsteadily.

"Your choice," Ben said.

"So, what's your name?"

"V'roneeca," I said, pronouncing it wrong and hiccupping.

"Well, we're going to call you Neeca," one of them said. I giggled again.

"Neeca and I need to get back to the school so she's there when her mom or brother comes looking for her," Ben said. He helped me up and walked me back to school.

* * *

_I wanna date Nate... (heh, it rhymes). I love him beyond belief, but now, I am wondering... Does anybody think he sounds like the guy version of a Mary-Sue?

* * *

_

"I wish we were alone," he told me. I blushed. "You are very, very good looking." I turned darker red. I didn't even like him to begin with and this was making me hate him more. I didn't think I was that good looking, I hated my looks. I looked plain and ordinary; brown hair and eyes.

"My brother doesn't like you," I told him. I hoped he would take the hint, it meant I didn't like him.

"Well you need to stop hanging around him and those friends. Start hanging around me and my friends. We need to go to a concert one day, I'll drive us out of state and we can go see a band." Just the thought of being in the car with this stoner made me uneasy. Then I thought of Josh and his lies. I nodded and smiled. "So, are you going to cut with us again?" he asked grabbing my hand.

* * *

_She really hates Josh... Wow, maybe she doesn't. Maybe she does. You'll have to review to find out. Remember, you **want** to find out who dies so REVIEW!_


	19. Discovery

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Discovery

Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Tikagem- I can promise you I did _not _kill Nate. I love him to much.

RangerDan- I think people are open when they're drunk…

Note- Ronnie's been a bad girl. So, anyway, my brother got his Junior license today (it become's a normal license on the 29th). That means: get off the road. No, we had to take sibling pictures for the school yearbook 'cause I'm a Freshman and he's a Senior, oh yeah, that was _fun._

Nate looked at me when I got to the front of the building. I blew Ben a kiss and said good-bye. Nate grabbed my arm and dragged me home. He practically threw me into the bathroom. He left and shut the door. I got the picture and started the shower water.

"I can't believe you," he said, standing outside the door. "You're drunk and left with that stoner half way through school."

"You're jealous because the guys like me and not you."

"I'm not gay, just drop it Ronnie," he snapped. I stepped into the shower and started to sing random songs from various artists. I got dressed and started to walk out the door.

"Where are you going?" Nate asked me.

"To see Ben, he works with dad," I told him. Nate sighed and let me go out.

I walked to the gas station, but dad saw me. He waved me inside.

"What's up?" he asked. I stood in the door way.

"Nothing," I told him. Then I thought of something. "Who's that kid filling tanks right there?" I asked and pointed to Ben.

"Him, he's Ben. He's in eleventh grade at your school. I don't trust him so much but the boss likes him, why?" I smiled. Dad didn't like Ben; dad never liked _any _of my boyfriends, including Josh.

"I thought he looked familiar, that's all," I said, lying through my teeth. I wasn't dumb enough to say I was cutting class and drinking with him and we were going out. I would be grounded beyond belief. "I'm going to go over and say hi," I told him. Dad nodded, probably happy or something that I was actually at a gas station without force.

I walked over to Ben, quietly. I thinking I wasn't as drunk as I was before. Whoops, forget that, I just tripped over my feet. Ben saw me and ran over to me. He helped me up.

"Thanks," I told him smiling.

"No problem, babe," he said. "So, you missed me so much that you had to risk your dad finding out to see me?" he asked. I ran my hand through my hair and smiled.

"Dad thinks I'm just saying hi," I answered.

"I wish we were alone," he told me. I blushed. "You are very, very good looking." I turned darker red. I didn't even like him to begin with and this was making me hate him more. I didn't think I was that good looking, I hated my looks. I looked plain and ordinary; brown hair and eyes.

"My brother doesn't like you," I told him. I hoped he would take the hint, it meant I didn't like him.

"Well you need to stop hanging around him and those friends. Start hanging around me and my friends. We need to go to a concert one day, I'll drive us out of state and we can go see a band." Just the thought of being in the car with this stoner made me uneasy. Then I thought of Josh and his lies. I nodded and smiled. "So, are you going to cut with us again?" he asked grabbing my hand.

"S... sure," I said nervously. I was already doing poorly in school, this was making things ten times worse. I didn't want to get caught.

"Ben, you're off," dad called from the inside.

"Thanks Mr. C," Ben shouted. "Look, meet me by the school. I don't want your dad to know we're going somewhere together. He's a cool guy, but I don't think he'd appreciate me hanging around you that much." I nodded and went back inside to my dad. I'd wait five minutes before heading to the school.

"Bye dad, I'll see you later. I think I'm going to my friend's house," I told him. He nodded. I felt bad lying to him; he didn't deserve being lied to. He was always nice and understanding. I went to the school to see Ben and his friends leaning against the wall smoking.

"Look, its Neeca," one said. He tossed me a beer. I looked at it hesitantly. I had to go home.

"I'll pass, I have over-protective parents."

"Babe, we were planning a road trip for a concert, you want to join us?" I thought about it. I never took risks like this, and mom did once, didn't she?

"Sure," I said walking next to Ben. His friends looked at each other. Ben put his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek. It smelt bad, like smoke and beer. That didn't smell great; actually, it reminded me of Steve's house. I kissed him back, to be polite. He turned around, so he was facing me and he pinned me against the wall, kissing me differently than Josh ever had. It wasn't as soft and sweet. Part of me liked the kiss, the other part didn't.

"Sure you don't want a beer?" the other guy offered. I guess it was time for bad Veronica, 'Neeca' to take over. I don't have split personalities, but sometimes I'm split in half and my mind has it's own ideas.

"Yes, I want one," I said and caught the one that was tossed to me. I finished it a few seconds and helped myself to another.

I stumbled through my front door after a few beers. I had a hard time turning the knob.

"Veronica, where have you been?" my mom asked. I could barely stand up straight, let alone talk.

"None o' yer business," I said. Was that my voice?

"Baby, are you drunk?" she ask running over to me. She helped me to the couch, catching a whiff of my breath. "Holy crap, Soda, she's drunk! I blame Steve and Two-Bit. They always made sure we had alcohol in this house even though none of us drink it. Only they do. Wait until I get my hands on them!" She screamed. I covered my ears and moaned. "Oh baby," mom said, sounding like she cared. She pushed my hair out of my face. I heard her go into the kitchen, probably to call Steve or Two-Bit.

A few minutes later, both of them were over. Mom started yelling at them and I fell off the couch. I didn't bother getting up, my head was hurting. Two-Bit was apologizing like crazy and Steve was swearing up and down he had nothing to do with it. Finally mom told them both to get out.

* * *

_Ronnie got busted... wow, I should really commentate my favorite chapters, like after this I'll make another story called: Ronnie Curtis... Commentated. Then, I would take my favorite chapters from both stories and commentate them. I'd do it, if it weren't against the rules. I think Fan Fiction says something about that. Oh, well, I'll just get a geocities site…

* * *

_

Mom made me go to school the next day. I didn't argue, I was probably going to cut class and hang with Ben and his friends. As I walked into the school, somebody grabbed my arm. I turned around, half expecting to see Josh, Nate or Ben. Instead, I saw Janice.

"You're going out with Ben now, right?" she asked. I nodded. "Don't, he'll make you crazy. The way he does what he does. I mean, look at me. I can't be the daughter of the toughest JD, can I?"

"I didn't think you liked me," I told her.

"I don't, but every girl knows about Ben so I thought I'd warn you. As a girl-to-girl thing, not a friend type of thing. Don't get the wrong idea." I smiled and thanked her. Watch Ben try to screw my life over, he'd be in for a surprise.

* * *

_So, review to find out what happens and what is Janice talking about? Oh, and I decided I'd do that, you just need to e-mail me so I can e-mail you when I have a website that I'd do it on, 'kay? My e-mail is on my profile..._


	20. The Plan and Fears

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- The Plan and Fears

Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Tikagem- Maybe he will get her in real trouble. Yes, I believe he will…

oOoRikku4veroOo- I can't do that, it doesn't let me do underscores

Note- Flashbacks, omnipresent, yeah, you ought to know. It's been a few stories and a lot of chapters and too many flashbacks (that is, if you've been with me since the beginning...)

"I can't believe Two-Bit let her drink," mom kept saying over and over again. "I trusted him with my baby and he ends up getting her drunk." Mom didn't let me out of her sight that night. She sat in the living room with me all night, with my head resting on her lap.

Ugh, I felt sick. I needed the bathroom and I needed it now. I got up, but I got up way too fast. The room got twisted and I tripped over the coffee table. I pulled my self up and made my way to the bathroom. I kept my fingers on the wall, to steady my self. I knelt in front of the toilet, and felt my mom's presence. She was keeping my hair out of my face.

Finally, I crawled into bed, pulling the covers over my head, so my feet hung out. I was lying on my stomach with my head buried in my pillow. I didn't get up until later the next day. Mom was home, cleaning the bathroom. She called me in sick and called herself in sick.

I was lying down on the couch when the front door opened. It was Two-Bit. I managed to get out a 'hey'.

"Who's there?" mom called. I moaned and covered my ears. Two-Bit walked into the bathroom. The next thing I know, mom was shoving him out the door saying 'out, get out and stay away from my family' she was pissed. She wasn't mad at me, she blamed Two-Bit entirely. I felt bad.

"Mom, it's not all Two-Bit's fault," I whispered. She turned to stare at me. "Yesterday I cut class to hang out with a bunch of kids and we drank, and after he got off of work, I went back to drinking."

"Yeah, but Two-Bit started you," she snapped. She went into my bedroom, probably to make the bed. I could only hope Nate wasn't pissed at me. I flipped through the channels hating my poor decision.

Nate came home and sat down next to me.

"I need to tell you something," he said. He sounded very alarmed.

_Flashback_

_Nate was in the locker room changing for gym. He noticed the roup of eleventh grade guys his ister recently started hanging out with. They were actually at class for once. He ducked into the nearest bathroom stall to listen to their conversation._

_"Neeca isn't here today, probably experiencing one hell of a hangover."_

_"You should've tried while she was drunk."_

_"Nah, I want her trust first, then I'll destroy her life. I love that part, gaining their trust and doing something that would kill them mentally."_

_"Ben, I don't know why you do that for kicks. Don't you have anything better to do?"_

_"Well, yeah, but have you seen her? She's **fine**! Besides, she was already upset, and I happened to be there."_

_"Shut up Ben, I think her brother's in this period."_

_"Duh, she was in this period, at one point they were inseparable. God, she is going to be more disturbed than that Shepard girl."_

_"After you screwed her life over, she started spreading rumors about everybody and whining."_

_After the guys left the locker room, Nate sat in the stall trying to figure all this out. Why would he want to hurt Ronnie like that? What did she do to them?_

I wanted to believe him, I knew it was true. But I didn't want to stop hanging around them, I had fun when I was with them, even if the were going to get me in trouble.

Mom made me go to school the next day. I didn't argue, I was probably going to cut class and hang with Ben and his friends. As I walked into the school, somebody grabbed my arm. I turned around, half expecting to see Josh, Nate or Ben. Instead, I saw Janice.

"You're going out with Ben now, right?" she asked. I nodded. "Don't, he'll make you crazy. The way he does what he does. I mean, look at me. I can't be the daughter of the toughest JD, can I?"

"I didn't think you liked me," I told her.

"I don't, but every girl knows about Ben so I thought I'd warn you. As a girl-to-girl thing, not a friend type of thing. Don't get the wrong idea." I smiled and thanked her. Watch Ben try to screw my life over, he'd be in for a surprise.

"Neeca," I heard his voice call down the hall. He hugged me, but he soon turned it into a kiss. I went along with it. "You cutting with us?" he asked. I nodded. We walked out of the school and to the place we went last time.

"It's Ben and Neeca," on guy said, handing us each a beer and Ben a weed. "Neeca, we were just thinking about something. We wanna know everybody's fears." I was about to make something stupid up when the real one tumbled out.

"I don't want Nate getting hurt badly. What about you guys?" Most of them said getting caught, but Ben said losing me. I knew people had to be wrong about him. He had to have changed.

_Is that a hint of foreshadowing? I better stop this commentary; otherwise I won't have anything to put on the website I am working on.

* * *

_

"I could've been a murderer," I told him. He turned around, saw me, and went back on his search. "I'm sorry about my mom's behavior. It's not your fault at all. I made a stupid decision, and cut class with a bunch of stoners. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, now I'll starve to death 'cause I got no food." I laughed.

"Did ya ever try Darry or Steve?" I saw his switchblade glinting on the counter. I casually walked over and slipped it into my pocket. Who knows if it might come in handy?

"Steve has that brat and I used to eat every meal at Darry's. Besides, he's been busy with his job and everything. Pony's out of state, doing his job... whatever it was, I forget. And, well, I ain't got no other friends," he answered.

"I tried to help you, Two-Bit, but my mom wouldn't hear of it." I looked at my feet. "I needed to say that, I tried, I really did." I walked out of his apartment and went back home. Nobody was home, that's odd, and shouldn't Nate have been home? I removed the note and wrote a new one, saying Nate and I went back to the school.

* * *

_Dun, dun, dun... I hope you like this! Please review so I can get it up faster, only six more chapters, ya know! I really want to get 21 out today so please review. I just need two reviews to get it up. I plan to finish this on Monday, it might be faster... the fate is in the hands of the reviewers! I mmust address something: recently, one of my online buddies called me a Two-Bit hater after reading this. I don't hate Two-Bit he's awesome, my character Jessica doesn't like Two-Bit. I made her so she wasn't like me (actually, just slightly she is). I do NOT hate Two-Bit._


	21. Ronnie to the Rescue

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Ronnie to the Rescue

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Tikagem- I can only promise that Nate does not die. The rest of the story would suck if Nate died, he's so wonderful. Here's where the story picks up… I mean its like: uh, please update more… hell of a lot of cliffhangers…

Note- Hm, Ronnie is quite dumb for some reason... lack of brain cells maybe? Any who, I didn't feel like waiting for all you other reviewers. My only request is that if you usually review; please review this chapter because I will _not _let this happen again… And then everybody will be mad at you because _they _don't have an update and it would suck for you… _I am very good at orchestrating mobs.

* * *

_

I didn't set foot into a classroom that whole day and I only had two drinks. I walked home, wrote a note saying I was over my friend's house and went to Two-Bit's place. I knocked on his door loudly.

"C'min," he called. Hesitantly, I opened the door. I noticed his head was in the refrigerator, probably looking for food. I cleared my throat to call attention to myself.

"I could've been a murderer," I told him. He turned around, saw me, and went back on his search. "I'm sorry about my mom's behavior. It's not your fault at all. I made a stupid decision, and I cut class with a bunch of stoners. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, now I'll starve to death 'cause I got no food." I laughed.

"Did ya ever try Darry or Steve?" I saw his switchblade glinting on the counter. I casually walked over and slipped it into my pocket. Who knows if it might come in handy?

"Steve has that brat and I used to eat every meal at Darry's. Besides, he's been busy with his job and everything. Pony's out of state, doing his job... whatever it was, I forget. And, well, I ain't got no other friends," he answered.

"I tried to help you, Two-Bit, but my mom wouldn't hear of it." I looked at my feet. "I needed to say that, I tried, I really did." I walked out of his apartment and went back home. Nobody was home, that's odd, and shouldn't Nate have been home? I removed the note and wrote a new one, saying Nate and I went back to the school.

I ran to the school. My heart beating rapidly, what if what they said about Ben was true? I detoured to the gas station, to see if Ben was there. He wasn't, I ran inside to see if dad knew.

"Daddy, do you know where that Ben guy is?" I asked him, out of breath.

"He called saying he had something at school, why?" I gulped; I could confess everything now or later.

"Nate's not home and I think he's in trouble with Ben. See ya; I'll be at the school." I ran off to the school, searching the halls, then I went to Nate's locker, his books were gone. I decided to go to the place we cut at. Maybe they were there. Ben was going to destroy me, by using Nate. Why didn't I listen to people? Why the hell was he doing this?

I stopped short. I was at the place, a little clearing in the woods. There they were. I saw one of Nate's shoes, his books and his bag. I followed the trail they made until I was deeper in the woods. There he was, my brother, pinned against the tree surrounded by a few guys. Surprisingly, Ben wasn't one of them.

"Hey, babe, looking for me?" he asked coming up from behind me. I tried not to look at him. He wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. I tried to fight him so I could go help Nate. That wasn't working so I tried to move with him, using all my strength to go forward.

"What did I ever do to you?" I asked him, struggling a bit. He tightened the hug and his face got closer, our noses were touching.

"Nothing, you were just there and in need of something." That wasn't a good reason. I needed to think of what I could do, to make them stop. Then it hit me, how surprised would Ben be if I openly kissed him? Taking a deep breath I had my lips meet his. His grip loosened slightly, as he tried to deepen the kiss. I was squirming. Nate was being murdered over there and all of the germs were creeping all over me. I bit Ben's tongue and shoved him off.

I made a break for Nate, but Ben grabbed my hair. I screamed a bit and turned around. I bit his hand, yes, I bit his hand. He stared at me, and slapped me. I felt my face, but continued the run to Nate. It was a good fifteen feet. The guys were slightly bigger than me, and perhaps they were stoned and drunk. I screeched, flinging myself at Nate. I stood in front of him.

"Bitch," one guy snarled and punched me in the stomach. I was about to double over and fall, but somebody was holding me from under the arms. I knew it was Nate. I kicked the other guy.

"Nate, it's about time you learned to fight. Right now, stop playing Gandhi and beat the crap out of these people." He looked at me amazed that I made such a reference, Gandhi, now, that was a big deal for me. He let go of me and I jumped on the next guy that tried to hit me. He slapped my leg, the pocket, and I felt something hard go against my leg. I remembered I had Two-Bit's switch and I pulled it out.

"Go away," I tried to say, but I was mortified. It didn't come out right, but they got the picture.

"Ben, she's got a blade, that ain't cool," he said. Ben turned his head and noticed the light reflecting of it. He narrowed his eyes and felt his pockets, mumbling curses when he realized he didn't have one.

"Damn, let's go," he told them. I turned to Nate to help him up. On foot he had a teared sock, with a shoe on the other. His hair was a mess and his nose was bloody. He was probably beaten up before I got there. The puffiness in his eye tripled and another black eye was forming next to it. I knew I would have a few bruises and a handful of hair was missing, but in different places.

Nate thanked me and I shook my head. It was my fault he was in this mess. I helped Nate get his shoes and supported him on the way to the house. Since the gas station was closer, I decided to go there. We'd be able to get a ride home and there were showers so Nate could get cleaned up.

"Glory," Steve said when I opened the door. His eyes were focused on Nate. "Soda, I think you better get in here," he called. Dad started to walk out.

"If it's about the lady's ford, I do-," he started to say, but stopped when he saw Nate. "Oh my gosh, what happened?" he asked. He walked towards Nate and I and led us to the chairs.

"I told ya, Ben doesn't like Nate," I said. Nate looked at me; I couldn't tell what his expression was like. His eyes were black and blue and his nose was pouring a steady stream of blood. Dad got some wet rags and gave them to Nate and me. I cleaned my face while Nate pressed his to his nose.

"Your mother isn't going to be happy," dad told us.

"She's already pissed at me for coming home drunk; you think this is going to affect me? Nate on the other hand," I trailed off. Nate shrugged. I was finally free of Ben, but would I ever be okay with guys? They were _lying, cheating, and dirty rotten_- UGH!

* * *

_Boo-hoo, sob, sob, now it's the typical almost got raped story. Will I ever be okay with guys? type of thing. Clips ahoy!

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_

Steady streams of tears were pouring out of my eyes. I felt them on my tongue. Why was this happening to me? I looked to my side, seeing Nate. The swelling in his face was huge. I held the phone close to my ear. 'Please, please, be some kind of sick joke.' I thought.

* * *

_That was a teaser. You got a glimpse at something but it wasn't a lot. Aren't I a sweetheart? Death ahead! (Okay, that's not a good thing)_


	22. Not Again

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Not Again

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders. I happen to own a paperback copy, a tape of the movie, a news article, and a new special DVD!

Reviewers-

XAmberX- I should give you points for creativity, but… **no**

RangerDan- I have already promised, Nate doesn't die…

Tikagem- Ding, ding, ding… you are correct. Have some invisible cake… it's good!

Note- I don't really have a note for this. I am still commentating chapters and adding them to that site. If you'd like the link, please tell me. You can reach me through e-mail (on the profile) or AIM (gcbabe1891) or YIM (it's on the profile)****

**NATE DOES NOT DIE! (I COULDN'T DO THAT TO HIM…)**

The phone rang. I heard it, but my head was pounding. My mom had yelled at me for about ten minutes straight. Basically I was irresponsible, immature, and stupid. She said I needed to learn how to behave, contain myself, and not rush into relationships.

Mom was on the phone, talking to the other person. She sounded different as she said 'bye' and hung up. She turned towards me. The next thing I know, she was hugging me, and stroking my hair. I started to break-up, this could only mean bad news. She led me to the couch.

"Baby, something's happened," she said.

"Was it dad?" I asked alarmed.

"No, baby, that was Mr. Holden." Mr. Holden, Josh's dad, what did he want? "He wants you to go over there so he can discuss things with you."

"What sort of things?"

"They can't get into Josh's room and he isn't opening it up and his blinds are pulled down. They think he committed suicide."

"Josh, no," I said silently.

"Yes," she told me. Then I felt them.

Steady streams of tears were pouring out of my eyes. I felt them on my tongue. Why was this happening to me? I looked to my side, seeing Nate. The swelling in his face was huge. I held the phone close to my ear. 'Please, please, be some kind of sick joke.' I thought. I dialed the Holden's number.

"Mrs. Holden, it's Ronnie, I'm coming over now," I said.

"Oh, thank you, we really want to know what's wrong." I got into our car and all I could think about was 'it's my fault, it's my fault.'

Mom drove me to their house and I got out. I looked up; Josh's blinds were pulled down. I fingered the switchblade in my pocket. I was so nervous. 'It's my fault,' I thought. They let me in, and I walked to Josh's door. I knocked on it softly.

"Josh, it's me, Ronnie. Open up, please," I begged. I didn't hear anything on the other side. I tried to turn the door knob but it wouldn't budge. I pulled out the switch blade, receiving a gasp from Mrs. Holden. I flicked it open and stuck the point into the keyhole. Damn, that didn't work. I decided to try to unscrew the door knob. That worked. I shoved the door open, and then closed it again, not letting anybody else in the room.

I saw him, lying on the bed and I ran to him. I lay on the bed next to him, wrapping my arms around his body. I noticed one of his arms was slashed all the way up. He tried to commit suicide.

"Josh," I said, "this isn't funny Josh. Please, Josh, wake up, I love you." He didn't move. That's when I realized it. He wasn't asleep. He wasn't faking it. He died. He committed suicide. "No, no, please don't, no," I cried. I started to shake. I didn't care about germs anymore. Germs didn't kill Josh, I killed Josh. I broke his heart. "M... Mr. H... Holden," I stuttered. "C... c... come in p... please."

I heard the door open, and both of them came in. Mrs. Holden went into hysterics, worse than I was, and Mr. Holden nearly tossed me out the window.

"No good will ever come from you Greasers," he shouted as I ran into the car. I cried the whole way home and nobody asked me about it. Nobody said anything about it. Nobody knew about it, nobody except me. It was my fault. Oh, god, I killed somebody else.

Around 12 that night, I climbed out of bed and out the window. I walked two or three blocks down and sat on a bench, waiting for a bus. I wasn't going to sit around and wait for people to die near me. I was leaving and there was no changing my mind.

* * *

_Gasp, now you understand the events that had to happen. Even though, now you hate me. I needed to make this work. It sounds weird and everything, like the typical tragedy. Somebody dies in another's arms... except for Josh was already dead. I hope you either cried or laughed. Or, either that or I hope you were very bored by this story. If you must know, the original story started with her at the bus stop (Chapter 23) but, I figured you needed some information. That's when I figured I would get into OCD and then I had already planned she had a boyfriend who's dad was a Soc from the past. Yeah, so it's a long and twisted tale... that originally started with the 23rd chapter. So, like I said before... the story is cheesy! Now, there is only one more death left!

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_

When my name was called I mindlessly walked into the room. I sat across from the lady. She was young, with long dark brown hair. She had knick-knacks surrounding her desk. Without asking, I picked one up and began to play with it, turning it over and over in my hands. I didn't say anything, she didn't say anything. I just kept flipping it over, staring at it. Abruptly I put it down. I stared at her.

"Aren't you going to ask me what's wrong?" I asked her. She smiled, she seemed friendly. She wasn't as friendly as the other lady. The lady that I saw in New York.

* * *

_Review, although I cannot promise that the next death is in that chapter. Who knows? I do, I do... -cough- CHEESY -cough-_


	23. Not Going Back

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Not Going Back

Disclaimer- I don't own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Tikagem- You think I can kill Soda? I will not kill Soda… that's wrong!

XAmberX- Thinking will only hurt you more (j/k) No, why don't you just read to find out?

Note- I am currently working on editing all of my 'Outsider Jess' chapters and making them pretty. When I finish this story, I'll probably repost that story with all the wonderful changes… **NATE DOES NOT DIE**- I think I made that pretty clear. Now, on with our story…

The bus pulled up. It was pretty dark out, I could barely see. The lights on the bus nearly blinded me. I gave the bus driver some money and found an empty seat. I was going to take this bus to the outside of town. I had to leave this place, for good. There was no bringing me back.

If mom was in my shoes, she would've gone to New York. She always had a place to stay there. I wanted to go to New York, to visit the therapist again. I got off at the next stop. It was about 3 a.m. I was headed to a therapist. I noticed I was on the West-side now; the whole feeling of the place was different. It was cleaner and kept-up nicer.

I sat on the curb for a while; I was going to wait until cars started to pull out of drive ways. I didn't want to wait at a therapist for a few hours. When the sun started to peak out of the clouds and fathers started to leave for work, I decided to walk to one of the therapists we visited.

I sat in the waiting room after making an appointment. I held a stuffed bunny. The fabric was worn in and it had a single button eye. The other one was popped off. It also had a smile sewed on. One ear was floppy and hung down over its face; the other one felt like it had a piece of wire in it to help keep it up. Unknowingly, I started to pull away at the string that made the smile. Nothing deserved to be happy. Things weren't happy.

When my name was called I mindlessly walked into the room. I sat across from the lady. She was young, with long dark brown hair that was tied in a loose ponytail. She had knick-knacks surrounding her desk. Without asking, I picked one up and began to play with it, turning it over and over in my hands. I didn't say anything, she didn't say anything. I just kept flipping it over, staring at it. Abruptly I put it down. I stared at her.

"Aren't you going to ask me what's wrong?" I asked her. She smiled, she seemed friendly. She wasn't as friendly as the other lady. The lady that I saw in New York.

"I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable." I smiled back at her.

"I don't want to go home," I said suddenly. I blinked a few times.

"Why not?" she asked, still unmoving. Her hands were folded and resting on her desk.

"I don't know. Well, I do know. I think I kill too many people. I don't mean to kill them. I'm honest." She nodded.

"May you start from the beginning?" I nodded.

"A long time ago, my grandmother passed away. She left her only daughter all alone; she was forced to move here. Except, she was on the East-side. This daughter was my mom. My mom's half-brother introduced her to his friends. Eventually, his best friend asked my mom out. They dated for a while, maybe a year, and then he proposed. She said yes. So, they got married. A few months later, well, I guess you've seen "the video"? Well, any way, me and my twin brother Nate came along. Dad was sent to the war and mom left for New York with us. She was called back when they found out some news about my dad. He had been injured in the war and was sent home, unable to walk for a few months. Then, I turned seven. I cheated my way into getting a dog I shouldn't have gotten. Then, we found out mommy was pregnant. I didn't want the baby, so I kept saying mean things. He was born too early and he died. But, I killed him. I said those mean things so he didn't want to live and just," here I made a popping noise, "died. I started to develop all these weird things. Recently, we found it was OCD. I was able to hide it real well, until that one day when I tried to get my cousin to wash her hands. Mom took me to a therapist in New York and they told us it was OCD. My cousin told me things her mom said when we got back. I have a short-temper so I jumped on my aunt. My uncle and aunt divorced. I was worried about it one day in school and that's the day I hit Nate. He told me I liked his friend, Josh. The truth is, I like Josh, no, I love Josh. So Josh and I went out but it turns out once upon a time there were things called Greasers and Socs. It made our families mortal enemies... like... like Romeo and Juliet! Josh and I broke up and then got back together. We broke up again because he told me a big lie. I decided to go out with Ben; he was a grade older than I was and a huge drinker and stoner. I started to drink. They tried to beat up Nate yesterday but I saved him. Then Josh's dad called and asked me to come over. Josh committed suicide. That's why I'm here, eventually, everybody I know dies. The ones that mean something to me. So far, I haven't killed Nate. That's why I'm here, I don' wanna kill Nate."

"But, Veronica, you didn't kill your younger brother or Josh. It's just what happened." I got up and pushed her knick-knacks towards her.

"I KILLED THEM! I MADE MY BROTHER NOT WANNA LIVE AND I BROKE JOSH'S HEART! IT'S MY FAULT AND YOU CAN'T DENY IT!" I screamed. I sat back down and pulled my legs to my chest and cried.

"Joan, do you know this girl's phone number?" I heard her call. She stepped out of the room. When she came back, she knelt down besides me. "Sh, Ronnie, sh, it'll be okay. Your Uncle Keith is coming to get you." Keith, did she mean Two-Bit? I wiped my nose on my sleeve.

"No, I don't WANT TO GO BACK!" I shrieked. I jumped up and ran out of the place. I kept running until I reached a speedy mart. I felt my pocket for my fake ID. I carried it every where. I threw it on the counter at the speedy mart and bought a six pack. I walked out, already popping the lid off of one.

* * *

_-Singing- Ronnie is crazy. Okay, now that I am done with that... here is your clip:

* * *

_

I polished the first one off in a matter seconds. I found a bench to sit down on. Next to me sat the remaining five beers. I grabbed one and mindlessly drank it. I wanted to die. I didn't want to kill anybody else. I couldn't kill anybody else. The next person to go would either be dad, Nate, or Two-Bit. I thought about it for a while. I didn't only kill people, I hurt them, or did something wrong. I made Steve and Megan break up and I hurt Josh before I killed him.

"Veronica Curtis, is that you?" somebody asked. I looked up to see who it was. Standing a few feet away from me was Janice Shepard. I nodded. She walked over to me and sat down, grabbing a beer. That was _my _beer. She had no right taking it. She turned to look at me. "What's wrong?" she asked me. I tried to open my mouth to tell her, but my mind wouldn't let me. I knew better than that, this was the same girl that spread cold rumors about everybody. She convinced quite a few people that Nate and Josh were gay. If I told her I killed Josh, she'd make up some sick and twisted story about how I brutally murdered him with a chainsaw because he kissed Nate. Yeah, I wasn't going to do that. Instead, I shook my head and reached for another beer.

* * *

_Hope you enjoy. Now you have to wait in agony for the next death that comes very soon, although, I am not promising it is in the next chapter. Please review this, the faster you review... the faster it's done. The faster it's done, the faster you see all the pretty wonderful changes to 'Outsider Jess'. Eventually, all of the Jess stories will be edited and made pretty!_


	24. Sympathy and Realization

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- Sympathy and Realization

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Tikagem- That's actually quite funny and I had to laugh. Now my sides hurt because I was eating a pickle. (Don't askme how that makes sense because I don't know!)

Kal's Gal- I'm updating!

XAmberX- That's cool, I don't think our team is that good. I don't play school sports. I play on an interleague soccer team. It's almost like school sports except its cooler because some of the people are nicer on my interleague team than the ones on the school team.

Note- In case you were wondering; I have been in a very depressed mood. That's why Ronnie's confused and she doesn't know which way is up. I tend to make my characters confused or dead when I get depressed. This time; I don't know why I am depressed. Nothing depressing happened. Well, actually my mom and dad had this huge fight the other night, but that's the only thing and that was about six days ago…

I polished the first one off in a matter seconds. I found a bench to sit down on. Next to me sat the remaining five beers. I grabbed one and mindlessly drank it. I wanted to die. I didn't want to kill anybody else. I couldn't kill anybody else. The next person to go would either be dad, Nate, or Two-Bit. I thought about it for a while. I didn't only kill people, I hurt them, or did something wrong. I made Steve and Megan break up and I hurt Josh before I killed him.

"Veronica Curtis, is that you?" somebody asked. I looked up to see who it was. Standing a few feet away from me was Janice Shepard. I nodded. She walked over to me and sat down, grabbing a beer. That was _my _beer. She had no right taking it. She turned to look at me. "What's wrong?" she asked me. I tried to open my mouth to tell her, but my mind wouldn't let me. I knew better than that, this was the same girl that spread cold rumors about everybody. She convinced quite a few people that Nate and Josh were gay. If I told her I killed Josh, she'd make up some sick and twisted story about how I brutally murdered him with a chainsaw because he kissed Nate. Yeah, I wasn't going to do that. Instead, I shook my head and reached for another beer.

"Why are you here?" I asked her. I decided to turn the conversation on her. So I was asking the questions, not answering them. I could've sworn I was still on the West-side. I couldn't think of a good reason for her to be here. She stared at me and swallowed some of the beer.

"My dad had to make a crack run; he says this side of town has the better stuff." 'Oh,' I mouthed and took a sip of my beer. It was awfully silent for a moment. Then, Janice got up. "My dad's coming, I'm gonna go," she said. I nodded and watched her swipe another beer. She ran to a beat up car and got into the passenger's seat.

I felt bad for Janice. She was 15, and her dad didn't trust her in the house by herself. He cared more about his crack than his own daughter. Was I feeling bad about this, why? I never liked Janice; she spread those heartless rumors about me and the people I cared about. But then again, she was dragged to the West-side when he needed a crack fix and she risked getting in trouble. I got up, leaving the remaining beer on the bench. Some West-side teenager could have a free beer. I didn't feel like finishing it.

I walked back to the East-side, my legs started to bother me. They were hurting from all the running and walking I was doing. But, I wasn't going to risk sitting down on the curb and have some police man come. They'd ask me all these stupid questions, what's my name, how old am I, where do I live, you get the point. Slowly, I walked to Janice's house. The rusted, old, beat up car was parked in the side of the road, and Janice was sitting on the steps.

"Why are you out here?" I asked her. I thought, maybe her dad kicked her out. He didn't want her touching his crack.

"I don't like to be inside when my dad gets high. I hate him when he's like that." I couldn't sympathize. I didn't know what that felt like. My parents never drank or got high, they loved us. They loved me and I hurt them. What was I doing here?

"I need to go," I said quickly. I got up and started to make my way to my house. I think I was drunk. I must've been, because I fell off the sidewalk. "Shit," I muttered as I picked myself up. I dusted off my pants. I had put a new hole in the knee and I skinned my palms. I studied my palms, and pressed them together, they were sting really bad. I tried to remember which way I was going when I heard it. It was a long, low honk. I turned my head to see a car, trying to slow down. I stayed put, my body froze. I couldn't move, but I wanted to. I needed to. My life depended on it.

* * *

_So, I guess you need to review to find out the conclusion of this horrible cliffhanger! Wow, last night I had a stroke of genius… after this story, there shall be another one. But it won't be about Ronnie or Nate or Soda or Jess… forget that Ronnie, Nate, and Jess after existed after this story. Actually, don't. I have a four chapter follow-up after this and then the new story. One is called 'I Just Can't Believe It' and the other is 'Trying to Adjust'. I won't tell you which one is which (although, both titles are good for one of them, just not the other)._


	25. The Cliffhanger's Conclusion

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- The Cliffhanger's Conclusion

Disclaimer- I have just been informed (For about the hundredth time) that I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

Tikagem- Wait, when does a Soc die? When was this decided? -Tries to think, but ends up setting a jar of pickles on fire-

Steph- Uh, maybe…

XAmberX- I updated

RangerDan- My sister's math teacher is Mrs. Tufo, and when she wrote it down, she accidentally put Tofu… Yeah, that was random

Note- Wasn't I evil? That cliffhanger must've killed you. I tried to get this out as fast as I could. It just didn't work very well. I was unable to have computer access yesterday (we got a new car- 2005 Jeep Liberty) this is the second to last chapter. -Heavy sob-

The car had slowed down, but not enough. It was still going pretty fast. I could hear the horn getting closer, and the car got bigger. I stared at it, maybe I could get it to stop. I tried to run, I told my legs to run, but my joints locked up. I felt it. It collided with my body and I went flying backwards. My head hit the concrete and everything went black.

* * *

I could hear things, I could feel things but I couldn't see. I just saw the backs of my eyelids. I tried to open them, but they felt heavy. My whole body ached. I wondered if I was still lying in the middle of the road, or if I was in hell. I don't think I was in hell. I could hear somebody crying. It wasn't quiet crying. It was heavy sobs, the kind that you hear at a funeral.

If I was dead, I wanted to go to heaven. I was sure to meet Josh and Jonathan back up there. But, I wanted to live. I wanted to see Nate and my family. I wanted to be held by my mom again. I wanted somebody to tell me everything was going to be alright.

I tried as hard as I could to open my eyes. I finally managed to hold them slightly open for a few seconds. I took a look around and they snapped shut and I fell asleep again.

* * *

When I woke up the next time, I tried to imagine it was all a dream. I wanted to be in my bed still, waiting for my mom to wake me up. Waiting for her to tell me it was Saturday and I had to baby-sit. It didn't happen and it struck me, this wasn't a dream. It was real, it was so real. I could feel my body. It ached, no, worse than ached. It felt like there was somebody sitting on all of my joints.

I remembered what I saw. It was all white, and clean. It was white, clean, and sparkly. I tried to think I was in heaven and I never had to worry about germs again. But, if I was in heaven I wouldn't be in pain. Then, something in my mind registered. I was in a hospital. I got my eyes to open again, it was dark out. Nobody was sitting in the room, but there was the steady _beep _of the monitor.

My throat was incredibly dry. I needed a drink of water. I rolled over to grab for one, hoping that there was one on the night table. I grabbed at the air, not feeling one. I tried to call out for somebody, but my voice didn't work. I hissed in pain. I had done too much moving. I heard the door open and a light flicked one. I closed my eyes, the light was bright.

"Are you up, dear?" somebody asked. I tried to answer, but I couldn't speak. I forgot. Instead I moved my head slightly and tried to moan in pain. "Okay, would you like a glass of water?" Again, I moved my head slightly. The person, well, the lady, came back a few seconds later. She placed a cup of water on the table. She helped me sit up a bit and handed me the glass. The water felt so good on my throat.

"Thanks," I managed to say. It sounded quiet and dry; much like Nate's voice when he hadn't spoke in a while. She just nodded. I sat up for the rest of the night, watching the television she had turned on. The channel was a news station, and the clock on the television said it was about 3.

"Yesterday afternoon a young girl named Veronica Curtis was struck by a speeding vehicle on this street," the news reporter said. A picture of Janice's street flashed on. "A friend said Veronica, aged 15, was walking home from being at her house. Veronica had fallen off the side walk and was struck by the speeding vehicle after she got up. Janice Shepard, also 15, said the vehicle made no effort to stop. Janice called the police as soon as she saw what happened. Then, after Veronica was brought into the hospital, her family was notified. The driver of the vehicle did not stay at the scene and is unidentified. Veronica remains at the hospital in critical condition until further notice."

I cursed a bit about the driver not staying. He could've killed me, and he drove off? I was glad that Janice called the police, but I was angry my family wasn't notified earlier. As I thought about it, I was able to identify the sobbing I heard earlier as my mother's crying.

I started to cry. I wanted my mom, I wanted my dad, I wanted Nate and Two-Bit and Steve and Darry and even Pony (even though I haven't seen him in ages. Thanksgiving was going to sneak up on us. Maybe he would stop by then.) Hell, you could even throw in Winnie. I just wanted to see them. I wanted my family.

Around 7, the nurse came back in. She helped me go into the bathroom. It hurt so much. I didn't want to move at all. I wanted to lie back down and sleep some more. Sleep was the only thing that didn't' hurt. I ended up taking a short nap. I woke up to see Nate and my mom. Mom was sitting next to the bed, holding my hand. She was crying, but not loudly. Nate was sitting in the corner, staring at his shoelaces.

"Baby," my mom whispered when I looked at her. She leaned over me and wrapped her arms around me. I hissed, the pain was really bad. Gently she let go of me. I smiled at her.

"Ronnie?" Nate asked, coming closer. I smiled at him. He smiled back.

"You were asleep when everybody was here. We'll have them back later, don't worry." I closed my eyes again. My body started to ache more. "It's okay, you can go back to sleep," I heard mom say. I listened to her. I went to sleep.

* * *

_I could end this in the next chapter. I think I will. Then, I will probably have a small follow up on it. But you'd have to review this and find out what happens next chapter. I'm not putting another clip because most likely, it reveals who dies..._


	26. The End

Title- Dealing with It

Chapter Title- The End

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers- I must say: YOU ARE WONDERFUL! I love having reviewers to keep me motivated.

Tikagem- Yum cookies… and I don't think people should die for no reason. Oh well, I hope you enjoy this.

XAmberX- I would never leave you. Writing is my LIFE. In case you were wondering, I have a FictionPress account. My penname is DotCom.

Note- This is the last chapter. Please have your tissue boxes ready. It is predicted to be a little emotional. Don't hate me for this. It starts out in a dream in case you were wondering. The chapter switches from dreams to reality. The dreams are in italics. They are _not _flash backs. It does not say flash back and they are still in Ronnie's point of view. If it is a flash back; it will say Flash back up top and then it will be omnipresent. _Happy Birthday to my dear brother, Mike.

* * *

_

_I was walking down a road. The sidewalks were free of trash and dirt. In fact, everything sparkled. It was all clean. 'I must be in heaven,' I thought. I don't even ache any more. I walked further down the road, until I saw somebody coming near me. It was Josh. I ran to him, hugging him._

_"Why'd you kill me?" he asked._

_"B, but I didn't," I stuttered. He held up his arm. I saw the dark scar and dried blood of his wound. I fell to my knees crying. He turned away and walked off._

I woke up, breathing heavily. There were fresh tears on my face. It was all a dream, only a dream. I heard the rain pounding against the window. I turned my head to see a streak of lightening in the sky. The lights flickered out and I let out a scream. I closed my eyes.

I could hear somebody fumbling with the keys outside my door. The door opened and my nurse came in.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I nodded. I was a little scared. It was pitch black and I had a nightmare. I couldn't hear the soothing _beep _anymore. I heard her leave and the door closed. I closed my eyes again.

_I was walking down that same road. This time I was walking in the opposite direction. I saw a house. It looked pretty, it had clean, white, walls and light blue shudders. It didn't look like the average East-side house. I opened the door and looked inside. I saw a little baby boy lying on the floor. He turned over to look at me._

_"Hey big sister," he said. Was this Jonathan? How could he talk? I walked over to him and picked him up. "Why'd you kill me?" he asked._

_"I didn't," I whispered. He became still in my arms. I looked down and watched him decay before my eyes. I screamed and backed up into somebody. I turned to see Nate and my mother. "Go!" I shrieked, I didn't want to kill them as well. I ran deeper into the house and slipped on a rug._

I woke up for a second time. It was only a dream. It was a very scary dream. I already hurt two people and my dream said I was hurting Nate and mom next. I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't. My eyes were heavy. My body ached worse than ever.

_I looked around. I was in my house. It was very messy and dark. Nate was lying on the couch. I couldn't find mom or dad. I walked into their bedroom, they weren't there. I peaked into Jonathan's old bedroom. It was empty. There was nothing in it except cobwebs and dust. I shut the door and opened my bedroom door. It looked like it had the night I left. It was untouched, the bed was unmade and it was kept the way I had it. It was pretty clean except for there were cobwebs and a thin layer of dust over everything. I walked back into the living room._

_"Nate, where'd mom and dad go?" I asked. He didn't answer. I reached out to shake him, but my hand went through him. "I'm, I'm a, I'm a ghost!" I screamed. "I'm dead," I moaned. I turned to look at Nate. He was lying perfectly still, tears were pouring out of his eyes._

I woke up and tried to move my body so I could make sure I was alive. I could make out the outlines of my nurse.

"Veronica, you had a nightmare, it's okay," she told me. I swallowed. My body ached worse than ever. I longed for the comfort of the _beeping_ but it wasn't there. I wanted somebody to hold me. I started to cry again. I leaned back and closed my eyes. I didn't dream, I just saw nothing. There wasn't anything there. I could hear the nurse leave. She came back in after and left again in a hurry.

"Ronnie, Ronnie baby," somebody called. "It's mom, Ronnie, please wake up. Ronnie, please, c'mon, Ronnie." I tried. I wanted to wake up and be held by her. My body didn't want it though. My joints were stiff and everything hurt. It was the worst it hurt. I tried to say something, but nothing came out. It took all I had to try to open my eye. I couldn't.

_I felt like I was falling. I couldn't stop myself. I had no control over anything. I tried to scream and grab onto somebody. Nobody was there. I was alone. It was pitch black. I tried to grab anything now. Nothing was there. I was reaching into air. I was dying. I couldn't stop it. I finally relaxed and let the darkness take over my body._

* * *

_Why am I crying? I guess I got attached to her. Well, the follow-up is four chapters. It has two Nate POVs and two Jessica POVs. Please review; give me your honest opinion. I know it was a really bad chapter. I don't know why I had her die. Actually, if I had her live, she'd probably be a vegetable or something. She'd have no life. I guess it's better off that way. I actually think this chapter had a neat ending, it's kind of symbolic (note: use of big word). She was trying to stop her death, but you can't escape this. As soon as Josh died, I had a feeling that this would end up Romeo and Juliet-ish and I didn't want that. I wasn't going to have her kill herself so I made her trip and fall into the path of a car. Some people write with a plot in mind, some people write with characters they spent time making. Me, I don't. I write what I think of, that's why this can go fast. It doesn't have a set plot so it doesn't matter what kind of ideas I get and my mood reflects in the story. My characters take a total of 2 minutes to make, maybe even less than. I just get a first sentence normally and write from there, my mind works out the character. That's how come they don't seem Mary-Suish and they are all different. I know you wanted to read this, please review and I can bring you the follow up. Also, put me on your author alert list so you can get notified about the follow-up AND I have another story (that is completely different) that I'd like to post. It's on my laptop so as soon as I find my floppy disk…_


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